Do What You Will
by anime fearie
Summary: Post Game. The world is now a dark place. A dust cloud has settled over the Eastern Continent where the ruins of Midgar lie.With the mako power gone people are barely surviving.People turn to scavenging the once rich ruins. Mains:Vincent,Rufus,orignals
1. Default Chapter

_D__o __W__hat __Y__ou __W__ill._

_By Anime Fearie._

WARNING: This fic contains back language, bad grammar and bad writing.  If this kind of thing offends you TURN BACK NOW! You have been warned.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own them.  I never pretended to. I just take them for walks, bath them, nurture them and supply them with dialogue. Squaresoft (beloved of the authoress) owns them.

RATING: R for occasional bad language and perhaps for future sex scenes, I haven't decided ;).

Author's Notes: _So this is a revised storyline specially done for Raven Supreme Being of the Rufus Compendium.  This was a story that I wasn't going to complete or post till I was properly motivated into doing so.  What can I say, an ego stroke can do wonders for an author's will to write.  I hope you like your present Raven!_

Added Note: Please note that (this could also go under warnings teehee) that I have put **gasp** flashbacks in this fic.  Hopefully, if the formatting works properly, flashbacks will appear in this light purple color so not to be so confusing to read.  After all most people are confused enough when reading my shit lol. If you are reading this at Fanfiction.net I'm sorry but you'll just have to cope.

Chapter 1 

I Don't Wanna Be Alone Anymore.

Marty followed his partner through the rubble with great reluctance.  Before they had begun on this adventure he had clearly told Rulf, his partner, what he thought of this idea of his.  He had told Rulf that he was insane.  

            Anybody that trekked into Midgar these days was either immensely brave or immensely stupid.  While usually, he had the greatest respect for his business partner, he knew that Rulf was far from brave.  Rulf was driven by the same thing that drove most men to stupidity these days.  He was driven by greed.

            Maybe greed was too harsher word for it.  The truth was that everybody these days was in desperate need of money.  Anything they could do to provide for their family or themselves.  And Rulf had promptly berated Marty for his own stupidity.  

            "We can't eat common sense Mart.  If we wanna live, we have to take risks."

            It was this simple speech that had made Marty agree to take the trek across the plains and enter the dead city in search of anything worth trading, anything that they could salvage that might be worth money or food.

            Although he had agreed, it didn't mean he had to enjoy the experience.

            It had only been a few weeks since the skies had lit up with the sparkling green glow of the lifestream.  A few weeks since that giant monster had come out of the sea near his home town and taken the shot that would end President Shinra's life and send the entire world into chaos.

            With the fall of Shinra had come an abrupt halt of the power from the reactors.  While it was all good to listen to people make pretty speeches about it all being 'good for the planet' it was another thing entirely for the people that now had to survive on said planet without the masses of power they had all come to rely on.

            Farmers had watched their crops die without proper irrigation.  Stores had gone out of business. Materia stores because it had become so rare to come by. Items stores because the technology to make the different potions and elixirs was now non-existent.  Weapons stores just because of the simple fact that nobody really had the money to spare to buy anything.  Travelers became rare and the Inns suffered.  The people were starving and there was no amount of heroic speeches that could change that fact.  The people had been forced to revert back to old, forgotten ages past when Mako power was not around.  But what little of the populace that remained that remembered that time, they were too sick or too few to make much of a difference anymore.

            Marty figured that the problem was worldwide with the possible exceptions of those few towns that had spurned the use of mako power.  But he was also acutely aware that the problem was the worst the closer you were to the accused ghost city that had been the cause of all this strife.  In the distance, along the horizon he could see the dim outline of clear blue sky and the sun shining in through dirty gray clouds.  But over Midgar and most of the same continent there existed a dark dust cloud that blocked out most of the sun's rays from the sky.  It was always dark, always dusk during the day and darkest pitch black at night.

            Such times had called for desperate measures.  Men and woman did what they could for money or food.  Children, gaunt and weary from lack of food huddled indoors crying from hunger.

            He was almost glad to get away from Kalm for the time being.  At least he had until they had entered the ruins of the city.

            Now he scouted the ruins with a wary eye, his hand gripping his sheathed weapon tightly in his hand, ready for any eventuality. Occasionally he would stop and look around himself, positive that he was being watched from the dark corners of the crumbling streets.  Absolutely sure that he had heard something disturb the debris around him.

            For his part, Rulf pretended that he wasn't unnerved.  That he didn't hear or feel the invisible presence that surrounded them.  He kept walking without falter, his hand casually by his side, away from him sidearm.  If Marty hadn't known his partner was only /pretending/ he might have been put at ease.  But he knew. And so he felt almost doubly on edge.

            Their final destination was in the center of the ruins. The former headquarters for Shinra Inc.  Rulf had explained that if there were anything worth salvaging it would be there. After all, Shinra had been /the/ superpower in the land till it's demise not too long ago.  Who knew what might have survived the devastation that had rocked the tower in its foundations.   Even from outside the city the infamous structure could still be seen.  It was amazing how much had survived, then again with the amount of wealth that Shinra had massed, it shouldn't have been surprising that most of the tower was still standing.  A lot of money must have went into its construction.

            Looking up at the skyline now, Marty was surprised the see how close they had gotten.  Time sure flew when one's mind was constantly distracted with one's surroundings. In fact that distraction had grown in intensity this last hour.  Instead of the odd furtive feelings Marty had been experiencing.  He was now gripped with the absolute knowledge that a certain something was watching them.  Following their every move.  But every time Marty had lifted his head to look around, the feeling had abruptly vanished only the reappear seconds after he turned his gaze back to following Rulf.  He noticed Rulf felt it too the way his partner kept looking up suddenly and staring into a distant pile of debris.  Up until now, Rulf had done a good job of hiding what he was feeling but now it seemed that the suspicion had proved to be too much to feign ignorance any longer.

            "Something's not right."  Marty muttered only loud enough for Rulf to hear.

            "I think yer imagination is runnin' away wit ya Mart.  The city's dead."

            Marty quickened his steps to bring him alongside his companion.  "You can stop lying now. I didn't buy the act to begin with.  Something has been following us for the past hour or so."

            Rulf lowered his voice.  "I know." He conceded.  "Wanta git rid of it?"

            "Preferably.  I can't concentrate properly."

            Rulf nodded his head and clapped a meaty hand on his companions shoulder.  "I seen it usin' the rooftops.  Next alley we break off the main street, sit in the dark 'n' wait the fucker out."

            Marty nodded to show he understood.  Simple ambush tactic.  He wasn't sure if he wanted the thing to fall for it or for it to pass them by.  Surely even Rulf had noticed the speed and agility that the thing possessed to keep up with them.  The decaying rooftops were a lot trickier to negotiate than the mostly bare street that he and Rulf were using.

            Soon enough they came to a narrow alley that looked right enough to pull off their trick and turned down into its entrance.

            The sky was getting progressively darker which meant they would be in total darkness soon.  That was at the same time an advantage and a disadvantage.  Their stalker might not see the ambush coming, then again it wasn't as if he or Rulf would have a much easier time seeing them either. Marty hoped that whoever or whatever it was would get to them before the sun went down totally.  After all, it was dark enough in Midgar as it was.

            A sound down in the end of the alley brought Marty back to the present quickly.  The sound was loud, thudding almost like very heavy footsteps.  

_The thing must be huge!_

The sounds grew louder and still the thing wasn't in sight, still cloaked in the darkness of the deep shadows of the surrounding buildings.  Soon the stone beneath their feet started to tremble at the rhythmic impact on the ground. And still the sounds grew louder.

"Somefin' isn't right." Rulf muttered unholstering his side arm and jacking a fresh round into the chamber.

"No fucking shit." Marty replied pulling out both his sword and dagger in two swift movements.

The two stood side by side, facing the back of the alley, tense and alert.  The loud 'footsteps' stopped just beyond the reach of the failing light.  The alley fell silent once more except for the heavy breathing of the two men.

The seconds that passed were excruciating for Marty.  It seemed more like two hours rather than two seconds.  They knew whatever it was that they faced was there waiting for them just beyond the light.

Rulf didn't seem to think it mattered whether or not they made a sound.  Obviously, whatever it was already knew they were here.

"This ain't what's been following us.  It ain't the same, too loud, too big."

Marty nodded in agreement not trusting his voice to sound calm enough.  Rulf was right though.  Whatever this thing was, it was really big. Not the swift quiet figure that had been stalking them.  So if this thing wasn't their stalker, what the hell was it?

A massive roar split the silence of the alleyway setting the hair's on the back of Marty's neck on end.  It was followed by a second earsplitting cry as the thing lumbered out of the shadows to face the two men.

Marty had been right, it was huge.

Marty had seen the effects of mako on animals that made them into monsters before, but this was something new.  This giant stood at least ten foot high, it's gray flesh hanging off it's bones in an advanced state of decay, the red eyes focused on the two men as they scrambled to get out of the way of a huge clawed hand as it swept toward them.

_What kind of animal could this have been?_

Certainly nothing that Marty had ever heard of.  Besides, there was too much in the monster that didn't fit in with any kind of animal around these parts.

Rolling out of the way of the claw, Rulf got back to his knees and fired two shots at the beast in front of them.  The bullets both hit their mark but seemed to do little to slow the monster down.  Green tinged blood oozed out of the wounds but neither looked in the least fatal.

Gripping his sword and dagger tightly Marty waited for the creature to lumber a little closer and make another swipe with it's claw before striking out at the gray appendage as it passed by.  This wounding seemed to do some damaged.  The creature howled in rage immediately reversing the swing back toward the swordsman.  The blow knocked Marty back against the alley wall, tearing his breath out of his lungs and leaving him feeling light headed.  He noticed with a vague look at the monster than he had almost managed to sever several fingers off the creature's clawed hand.

The pain that radiated through his back and the back of his skull from hitting the wall was excruciating.  He lay in a crumpled heap, fighting the keep consciousness.  He knew Rulf needed him to get up and fight, but he couldn't will his body to move.

A noise from above made Marty turn his glassy eyes skyward just in time to see a dark shadow leap off the rooftop above him straight at the beast in the alley.  Marty watched as the dark figure landed right on the beast's massive shoulders!

The creature made an irritated swipe at the newcomer, but the figure deftly ducked the hand and reached into its black cloak to retrieve a rather nasty looking gun.  Aiming the gun point blank at the thing's head, Marty heard the gun go off twice before the figure made a final leap down onto the pavement between Marty and the monster.

The monster gave off a blood chilling cry and slumped to its knees before the rest of its massive body followed with a sickeningly loud thud.  The figured in black strode up to where the monster lay and casually emptied two more rounds into the thing's head, causing a gruesome spurt of green blood to splatter the far wall.

Short of breath and in pain, Marty felt like he was going to be sick after the grisly sight but two strong hands reached down and hauled him to his feet.  Marty swayed slightly, but Rulf kept a firm grip on him, his eyes trained wearily on the newcomers back.

Neither man seemed likely to speak, the newcomer not even turning around to face the two people he'd saved. So Marty thought he'd better speak up.

"Um, thanks?"

Rulf scowled at his partner for speaking, obviously not trusting this person.  Marty couldn't understand why.  After all this guy (?) had saved their lives.

But then Marty knew.  /This/ was the person that had been following them.  Who else could it be?  Who else would have been close enough by to hear the danger.

At Marty's voice the figure turned it's attention from the dead monster, back to the two men.  Still, he didn't say anything.

Now that everything had stopped moving in Marty's vision he was finally able to get a good look at the person (and it was a guy).  Long dark hair poked out from beneath the black hood of the figure's cloak.  Pale white skin and a set of intense eyes that seemed to look straight through Marty and read his every thought.

_His eyes are red!_

Marty almost unconsciously took a step back, but Rulf's firm hand kept him from going any further.

"Why were ya followin' us?"  Rulf asked gruffly, his hand still tightly clenched on his gun.

The man regarded them for a moment longer with cool indifference before turning his back toward the pair and crouching down beside the body of the monster, his gun placed carelessly on the pavement beside him.

Still the figure didn't talk.

Marty shrugged his shoulders at Rulf's questioning look and watched their mysterious rescuer rip something off the creature's tattered rags and retrieve his gun.

"What the fuck was that?"  Marty asked no one in particular.

"Ain't no mako monster I ever seen."  Rulf agreed.

The man straightened up a gazed down at the monster.

"It was human."

The effect of the statement as well as the quiet calm voice that in had been delivered in set that same cold shiver up Marty's spine.  The newcomer's voice was soft almost whispering and left Marty wondering if it had actually been a voice or rather just a thought in his head.

"Human? How…?"

But the man didn't elaborate on his statement.  He simply moved his cloak back to holster his weapon.  It was then that Marty caught sight of the glinting metal arm.  A bronze claw that the stranger had kept concealed up until this point underneath his cloak.

Even Rulf seemed unnerved at the sight.  

"Who are ya?  Why were ya followin' us?"  His voice got a little louder now, "And what the /fuck!/ do ya mean that thing was human?!"

Then man turned slightly toward the loud demanding voice.

"It was a human that had most likely been taking refuge too near one of the reactors when Meteor hit the city and was poisoned by the fumes. I've seen it before."  He answered mildly.

"Yeah, but that still don't answer the other questions."  Rulf responded tersely. 

"My name is Vincent Valentine, and you were going in the same direction as I was."

            ***************************************************

_Today I'm gonna do it! I don't care what they say! I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself._

The small boy took a quick peak around the corner of the white corridor.  He could see nothing occupying the other end of the corridor.  Nothing that could hide from the bright fluorescent glow.

He crept around the corner and moved toward the elevator as quietly as he could.  He didn't want them to know he was doing this.

_But I'm not afraid, I'll show them all!_

He reached the elevator and went inside.  Reaching up the swiped the card he had stolen only minutes before and pressed the button that would take him down a few levels.  He didn't quite know where he was going. He didn't much care.  He just wanted to get away from that woman that yelled at him so often.  

_Hit me for spilling that milk why don't you! I'll show you!_

The small five year old boy rubbed his red cheek at the memory and ran his tongue over the small gap in his teeth where a tooth was missing.

He was well aware that if he was caught, he would get into even more trouble and that loud woman would probably do worse than hit him this time, but it was even more worth it to risk it.  To go out and see something away from his rooms.  Something other than that mean woman for a change.  The hope that there was something more, something better was worth ten hits, more even.

The elevator deposited him on a floor he didn't recognize.  The floor number read '68th'.  He had walked down the long tunnel that attached itself to this building.  He could see the tunnel and the building from his window in his room.  But he hadn't the foggiest clue what he was supposed to do once he got here.

_I'll find someone better.  Someone that won't scream at me all the time. Someone to talk to. Someone that will listen.  I don't wanna be alone anymore!_

The boy wandered in amongst the halls in mute fascination.  The hallways were filled with doors that lead to small offices.  Many people passed him, rushing from one place to another.

_So many people!_

Most of the people didn't notice the small boy, and those that did gave him momentary puzzled looks before hurrying away again.  Not many of them looked very friendly.

He was just walking passed a huge set of double wooden doors when they opened from the inside allowing about half a dozen men in suits to walk out into the hall.

The boy gasped when he saw them and quickly looked around for a place to hide.

_If /he/ catches me I'm definitely in trouble._

Without thinking the boy ducked into a hall just off the side and kept walking till he was in an area with big wooden boxes.  At the far side of this new room, the boy saw a small service elevator.  Not wanting to stay on the same floor any longer he flung himself inside the elevator and let it take him to a new floor.

This new floor was dimly lit. But he knew straight away that he didn't like it.  Odors that he had never smelt before reached his nostrils, making him gag.  The faint outline of large tanks and high tables met his vision.   Still, he wasn't about to go back down to the other floor. Not until that other man had left that was for sure. Holding his small hand over his mouth he crept further into the room, hoping to find a good place to hide.

The further in he went, the more aware he was of the things around him.  Metal tables, sharp instruments, glass vials.  It looked like a room in the hospital he had gone to last year.  

_/"Are you sure Sir? The child…"_

_"Will learn about this stuff soon enough.  He shouldn't be shielded from it. Let him see./_

He remembered that the room had made him very sad, as this room was doing now.  He stared at one of the metal tables recalling visions of seeing a beautiful woman lying there covered from her shoulders in a thin white sheet.  Her hair spread out about her face in soft brown waves, her face pale, her once beautiful bright blue eyes, staring unseeing at the roof, now clouded and slightly faded.

_/"Let him see his mother."/_

Angrily he brushed the stray tear off his cheek and tore his gaze away from the table.

_I won't cry! Never! I won't show him how weak I am._

A heavy hand descended onto the boy's shoulder making him jump slightly in fright and spin around the face this new arrival.  The young boy looked up at the man with fearful eyes and an astonished expression.  But the man wasn't looking at him. He was looking past him to a door at the back of the room where a small amount of light filtered out from underneath the door. Soft murmurings voices could be heard coming from the other side of the door that the boy had not heard upon first entering being too caught up in his memories.

After a few seconds of listening to the muted conversation, the man turned weary eyes back to the boy trapped in his grip.

"I saw you come up here.  This is no place for a child to play."

Something about the dark suited man tugged at something in the back of his mind but the boy shrugged it off.  He was too terrified about being caught.

The man seemed to take one look at the boy's terrified gaze and his hard eyes softened a little, a small corner of his mouth tipping up slightly into a smile.

"If you are hungry I will take you to get some food before I take you back to your rooms. Perhaps you will be lucky and they will have not missed you yet."

The boy blinked up at the man in confusion.

_He isn't gonna dob me in?  I don't have to go back yet?!_

"Th-thankyou." The boy stammered.

"Come along, we'll see what we can find in the cafeteria."

The man took the boy's hand and led him back toward the elevator, pausing momentarily to look back toward the door at the two muted voices therein.   Soon they were on their way back down to the 68th, the boy staring at his savior the whole way down.  He could see why he had been so scared of the man before.  Everything about this man spoke of danger.  From the way he looked at things with those deep eyes to the way he stood. Tense and alert.  Black hair and a navy blue suit.  But this dangerous looking man was the nicest person the boy could remember meeting in his short life.

_He's nice. Maybe he'll be my friend!_

He wanted to introduce himself to the man in the hopes of getting the man's name in return but he knew that the man already knew who he was.  He decided on a more direct approach.

"What's your name?"  He asked timidly.

The man looked down at him with something of a slightly amused expression.

"Vincent." He replied in the soft voice he always seemed to use.

"It's really nice to meet you Vincent." The boy returned politely.

***********************************************************

Marty stoked the campfire with a handy metal rod he had found amongst the debris, his eyes never leaving the figure that sat on watch over the other side of the camp.  He sat almost out of range of the fire's light cloaked in shadows.  Somehow Marty found that quite fitting for the man.  He seemed to wear the shadows like the cloak around his shoulders.  All concealing, dark and foreboding. 

Yes, that suited Vincent Valentine very well.

Marty remembered hearing about this man.  He was one of the band of warriors that had taken down the mighty Sephiroth.  The greatest Shinra Soldier ever to have lived and this had been one of the people to destroy him.  A man that not ever death had reputedly been able to destroy.  Such power was definitely something to be awed and respected.  

But Marty couldn't help thinking of other things this man had been involved in destroying.  After all, hadn't Avalanche also been the ones to deliver the final staggering blow to Shinra? If the rumors could be believed, Avalanche had killed off the last few remaining executives of the company.  Didn't that make Vincent one of the bad guys?  Marty had never been one of those people that loved Shinra's influence, but considering the consequences, were Shinra really that bad after all?  They were certainly better than this existence. Facing life under a dark dust cloud, starving.  Surely anything was better than /that/.

Off to Marty's right, Rulf stirred in his sleep and rolled over only to resume snoring five seconds later.  He awed his partner right now. After Vincent had told them he had been following them simply because he was heading into the inner city as well, Rulf had promptly invited the man to travel with them.  It was a decent gesture and so unlike Rulf that Marty suspected he had only invited the newcomer along to keep a distrustful eye on the man.  But as soon as they had made camp for the night, Vincent offering to sit on first watch, Rulf had lay down on his back and started snoring.  Not a very good way to keep an eye on a person.

But Marty was still awake.  After the fight in the alley he had found the idea of sleep very unappealing to say the least.  He had fears of seeing that beast in his dreams, the thought having the ability to keep him more awake than any Hyper he had ever swallowed.

Impulse found Marty standing up and making his way over to where the quiet man was sitting, looking out over the debris ridden streets before him.

"M-Mr. Valentine?" Marty began.

Vincent looked up at Marty with a deadpan expression, those weird colored eyes narrowed only slightly.  Still it was enough to let Marty know instantly that he was disturbing the other man.  He was resolute though.  He wasn't about to be intimidated into staying silent. He wanted answers!

"Mr. Valentine? I wanted to know something.  Well, a few things actually."

He was embarrassed to realize just how small his voice sounded.  He forced a deeper tone into his voice.

"You said that you've seen those monsters before.  That they were human."

Vincent shifted his gaze back to the streets seemingly bored with the conversation. He didn't answer.

Marty waited for a good few minutes before realizing that Vincent was not going to answer any of his questions.  And for some unknown reason this made him intolerably mad.  Here he was living in dark, dying world. Starving, frightened and pretty much alone, yet this man, who was supposed to be some great hero, would not even take the time to gaze in his direction for more than a few seconds.

"Damnit! Don't do that whole silent trip on me again!  You know something, and I want to know what you do.  Why are there people turning into monsters?"

After a few more seconds it looked as though Vincent still wasn't going to answer him. Resisting the urge to shake the other man till he spoke, Marty turned his back and grit his teeth. One thing was for sure, Vincent Valentine could find his own godamn way into the city center, Marty sure as hell wasn't going to help him.

"The reactors."

The soft spoken reply took Marty by surprise.  He turned around swiftly to find those ruby eyes focused completely on him.

"What do you mean?"

"Most of them were created when Meteor was trying to crush the city.  Many of the reactors went into overload and exploded.  The people in the surrounding areas were hit by severe cases of Mako poisoning.  They turned into monsters such as the thing you were lucky enough to run into today.  The remaining reactors continue to leak poisoning any who stay within the confines of the city for too long.  It is those last kind that you mainly have to watch out for.  They still retain enough humanity to think clearly and act precisely."

So taken back by the deluge of information from the otherwise silent man that Marty had to wait a few moments before he could speak again.

"Are there many of them? Could they spread?"

Marty was suddenly overcome by visions of the monsters invading Kalm.  The sick, hungry people dying easily at the claws of such beings.

"Enough." Vincent answered simply.  "But I haven't seen any outside the city limits."  He paused for a moment, his eyes again turning back toward the street.  "You had another question?"

With Vincent's gaze turned off him, he found it easier to concentrate on his thoughts and quickly remembered the second thing that had been bothering him.

"You said you were heading in the same direction as us.  What are you after?"

Vincent obviously heard the suspicious tone in Marty's voice, a small corner of his mouth tipping up slightly.

"I won't hurt your business opportunities."  Vincent reassured.  "What I am after has no material value to anyone now.  It is simply better not to travel by oneself here.  Safer."

Marty had to wonder about that last statement.  From what he saw earlier, Vincent sure didn't seem to have any troubles fighting by himself.  Still, he wasn't about to disagree.  The man was undoubtedly good in a fight and it would be stupid for both Rulf and himself to part with him.  After all, if what he said was true, they had nothing to fear from him.

Well, that was what his heart told him.  His head wasn't so sure.  People you could trust nowadays were difficult to come by.

"I won't disagree." Marty said.  He turned away from Vincent and started back toward his place by the fire.  "Goodnight, Mr. Valentine."

Again the faint half smile was back.  "My name is Vincent.  People haven't called me 'Mr.' in a very long time." 

*********************************

_Notes: okay, so this is the beginning.  I was hoping to get further than this is the first chapter, but I didn't want it to stretch too far.  Neway, what do you all think?  Little different from my usual stuff, but I think this may still work.  And how could I /not/ post a story containing my two fav characters!  It just had to be done.  Unfortunately anything with Vincent screams to be dark and angsty so that's what this fic will be.  But like I said, this isn't my usual and I would really appreciate to know what you all think, whether I should continue and so forth._

_Feedback is my friend it makes me happy_

_AF_

_anime_fearie@excite.com_

_All stories can be found on the 70th Floor at Neo Midgar_

_http://www.geocities.com/anime_fearie/___


	2. I'll Be Back

Do What You Will.

_By AF_

Chapter II I'll Be Back Soon. 

          "Hey Vincent! Whatcha up to?"

          Vincent looked up from the papers on his desk at favored the small boy with a single raised eyebrow, clearly conveying his disapproval.  The boy just wandered into the room and climbed up into one of the chairs opposite Vincent's desk to better see the Turk.

          "Work." Vincent replied curtly.  "Don't you have classes today?"

          The boy looked at him with a hurt look and puffed out his cheeks.  "I thought you liked me visiting you. And I've finished with my tutor today."

          Vincent realized that he had been a little cold with the boy and immediately smiled to reassure him.  "Of course I do.  I was concerned you hadn't finished upstairs yet.  Are you hungry?"

          _Something's wrong._

          The boy had visited enough with Vincent over the past few months to know when Vincent was in a bad mood. Not that one could really tell most of the time.  Just little things really.  For one; Vincent didn't smile much anymore. In fact Vincent didn't do much of anything anymore.  He was either out on a job or in his office working and looking way too serious.

          _He's my friend, maybe I can help him._

"A little. Hey Vincent?"

          Vincent was standing up and moving to pick up his jacket from the back of the chair.  

          "Mmmmm?"

          "Is something wrong? You don't look happy."

          Vincent turned toward the boy and gave him a rather penetrating gaze.

          "What makes you say that?"

          "I dunno." He shrugged.  "I don't wanna see you unhappy.  Can I help?"

          Vincent finished getting his stuff together for the traditional visit with the boy to the cafeteria and went to stand in front of the chair.  "I doubt it. Not unless you have any skills with talking down sadistic maniacs." Vincent returned dryly.

          The boy was sure that he didn't know what any of that meant, but he was adamant in helping.  He got to his feet on the chair in an attempt to get up to Vincent's height, (unfortunately he didn't even make it up to the man's shoulders) and tried to look protective.

          "I can do it. If anyone is making you sad I'll get 'em!" This he punctuated by slamming his small fist into an open palm.

          Seeing this, Vincent chuckled slightly and picked the boy up with one arm.  "I'll keep that in mind."

          The boy beamed at Vincent, appeased that he'd made his friend smile and let himself be carried toward the door.  Before they were able to step into the corridor, a figure came into the room almost barreling the two over.

          "What is it?"  Vincent asked the young man irritably.

          The new arrival had the decency enough to look embarrassed that he had nearly knocked Vincent over and then confused when he saw the boy that Vincent was holding.  This next discovery seemed to silence the man and infuriate Vincent even further.

          Vincent scowled at the other man.  "Tseng?" He prompted.

          "Oh, right."  He said, his attention back on Vincent.  "Sir, you asked to be informed the moment…"

          Apparently, Tseng didn't even need to finish the sentence.  "But it's too soon!" Vincent argued.

          Tseng just shrugged.  "Information came in first thing this morning Sir.  I was lucky to be able to find out this much.  I think they know we've been looking into it. Heidigar's pretty upset."

          The boy just watched the conversation in mute worry. Whatever this news was it was having a bad effect on Vincent.  His friend's face was white, his eyes wide, voice taut.  It was so unlike his friend to get this upset that it was almost scary to watch.  He was about to ask to be put down before Vincent did it anyway, hunkering down so he could talk to the boy face to face.  

          "I'm very sorry, but I must go. Something urgent has arisen. But I'll be back soon. I promise."

          Concerned to the point of being scared the boy just nodded dumbly.

          Vincent straightened up and turned back to Tseng who was standing uncomfortably by the door.

          "Could you see him back to his rooms please Tseng."

          "Yes, of course Sir.  Are you going out there?"  

          Tseng also appeared worried and this bothered the boy even more.  

          "Yes.  What else can I do?"

          Without so much as a last wave, Vincent was out the door and down the corridor before Tseng had a chance to reply.  For a few moments the Turk and the boy stood there watching the direction Vincent had disappeared down.

          "C'mon, I'd better get you back." Tseng told him eventually.

          He took the boy's hand and began leading him back toward the elevator banks.

          "What's wrong with Vincent?  Where'd he go?" He asked timidly. "When is he coming back?"

          Tseng looked down at the boy curiously for a second.  "He has to go out of town for a while.  I don't know when he'll be back. You're worried about him?"

          He looked down at his shoes and shrugged.  "Of course.  Vincent is my friend. He's not like all the others."

          "You can say that again. Don't worry, he'll be back as soon as he's able."

          Tseng didn't sound so sure on that last note and that made him worry even more.  He wouldn't have been worried at all had it not been for Vincent's behavior and hasty departure.  Even he could tell that something was majorly wrong and it was frightening to think that his friend was in trouble.

_          He'll come back. He wouldn't leave me here alone with the nasty people.  He's my friend…my only friend.  He /has/ to come back!_

*********************************

          "Sounds like you two've had a nice little chat then." Rulf grumbled sourly.

          Marty scowled at his friend as they walked.  He'd hoped by telling Rulf of his conversation with Vincent last night it would help ease the other man's mind a little as to any motives their new companion had by joining them in their trek through the city.  Obviously he had been wrong.  

          A pessimistic man by nature, it had even taken Marty years to gain as much trust as he had with Rulf.  If that were to be the case with Vincent as well, they were in for some tough times.

          Marty raised his vision to the back of the cloaked figure scouting the roads up ahead, thankfully out of earshot.  Vincent wasn't exactly someone that was easy to trust to begin with. Marty mused that, had he had a daughter and she bought home somebody like Vincent he would have shot them both without a seconds thought.  Despite his behavior, the man didn't even /look/ dependable.  Dressed entirely in black, with the exception of a blood red wrap covering half his face, ruby eyes like a demon and the palest skin he had ever seen on another human being.  In fact it was hard to even imagine this man as totally human.

          "I know you don't trust him."  Marty began evenly, "I don't either, but I don't think he means us harm.  He didn't even seem interested in what we were after."

          "Yer, an' what is /he/ afta. Did ya ask 'im that?"

          Marty thought back and realized that Vincent hadn't told him exactly what he was after.  

          "Just that it isn't valuable."  Marty replied remembering. 

          Rulf snorted and kicked a small stone with the toe of his shoe.  "If it ain't valuable, why the /fuck/ would a man come all this way then huh?"

          "Good question." Marty admitted.  "Maybe it's only valuable to him.  I mean you've heard the rumors about Avalanche. How the leader was an ex-Soldier, most of the others were a terrorist group, a princess from Wutai, a robot, an Ancient, a talking beast and…"

          "A partridge in a pear tree. I've heard the rumors an' I think it's bullshit."

          Marty wasn't quite sure himself on a few of those points.  He remembered seeing the group in Kalm and he found it hard to believe that any of them were what people claimed them to be.  Well, apart from the terrorist group anyway and he sure had /seen/ the beast people claimed could talk.  But their leader didn't look much like he was from Soldier.  He'd imagined that all Soldiers looked like Sephiroth had, and everyone had seen Sephiroth.  That guy, Strife looked about as tough as your average twelve year old girl in comparison and probably about as tall as well. There was one thing though.

          "So you don't believe that Vincent was a Turk?"

          Rulf sighed loudly and nodded once.  "That's 'bout the only thing I would be likely to believe." He admitted.  "I sure seen those other Turks in action enough to know that he's as good as any of 'em."

          That was true enough.  Rulf was a rare weapons dealer in Kalm.  Well, /was/ at any rate.  It wasn't an odd occurrence to see one or two of the Turks disappear into his shop for a little while.

          "But," Rulf continued, "That still don't mean I trust 'im.  Shit I dealt with those slippery little fuckers for years.  'Im being a Turk only makes it worse."

          "Used to be." Marty pointed out irritably.  "And if you're so wary of his 'real' purpose in coming here, why do /you/ go and ask him.  I mean do you really want to wander around this place by ourselves?  I for one would welcome his company slippery Turk or not."

          Rulf mumbled something intelligible, but Marty got the gist of it. It wasn't very nice.

          "Pardon?" Marty asked innocently.

          "You're his good special buddy, you ask 'im." 

          "Fine." Marty returned brightly realizing he'd won his point. "I will."

          Marty left Rulf to swear to himself and jogged up to catch up with Vincent.  Falling into step with Vincent he watched the dark haired man watch the streets for a moment before speaking.   Vincent looked very in depth with his  inspection that Marty almost didn't want to disturb him.  A part of his brain was telling him that this was because he was still a little intimidated by the man, but he chose to ignore it.

          "Hi. How's it going?"  Marty asked.

          Vincent didn't reply, but then again, Marty hadn't expected him to.

          "I'm still curious about…"

          "I heard." Vincent interrupted suddenly his eyes never leaving their constant sweep of the streets.  They were closer to the city center now and it was notoriously a more dangerous area than the outskirts.

          "Y-you h-heard?" Marty stuttered casting a glance behind him to where Rulf was still plodding along, muttering to himself.  Surely Vincent couldn't have heard, they had been talking quietly enough, far behind the other man.

          Vincent didn't reply, just inclined his head slightly to show an affirmative.

          "Y-you have very good hearing.  All of it?"

          Again the answer was yes.

          Well this made Marty's job a little easier anyway.  "Sorry.  But you can understand why we're wary."

          "These are dangerous times." Vincent told him solemnly.  "People have much to lose by trusting strangers."

          Marty took that as a Vincent version of 'I understand, it's okay.'  Well he hoped so anyway.  It hadn't even occurred to him that Vincent mightn't trust them as much as they didn't trust him.

          "Rulf's a little gruff sometimes, but that's just what he's like. You'll get used to it.  He's a little curious though, so am I actually."

          "What I am looking for does not concern you or your friend as what you seek does not concern or interest me." Vincent stated in a cold voice that made a small shiver run up Marty's spine.

          "W-we're only here to scavenge.  Nothing very interesting."

          "As am I." Vincent answered simply.

          Well Marty didn't know how to comeback to that.  He didn't want to pressure Vincent into telling him.  Well he did actually.  But he didn't want Vincent to feel like he was being pressured.

          _So I /am/ a little frightened by him. _Marty admitted to himself.  But that was precisely why he wanted to know everything.

"Look, Vincent. I'll be honest with you, you're an unusual guy. And you're a dangerous guy.  If you wanted to I bet you could easily kill both me and Rulf if you were so inclined.  I mean  you were a Turk right?  I'm just nervous about your real motives is all.  Me and Rulf are simple junk scavengers, but I get the feeling that you are not."

          That said he searched Vincent's face for any sign that his words had had any impact on the other man.  He was disappointed. But Vincent did at least answer him.

          "I'm looking for documents."  Vincent admitted.  "Scientific documents."

          "And they aren't valuable?"

          "To nobody but other scientists and perhaps the subjects of the experiments."

          At this, Marty mind went into confusion.  

          "But I thought that you were a Turk.  Not a scientist."

          It was the first thing that Marty had blurted out and it was only after he'd said it did he realize how stupid he sounded.  

          But to his growing astonishment he thought he saw thin traces of amusement on Vincent's face.

          "Once upon a time I was a Turk yes.  But no I have never been a scientist."

          So it seemed that all the rumors /were/ true.  At least regarding this man.  The rumors especially surrounding Vincent had been a little hard to believe.  But it was true.  One of the greatest Turks in Shinra history turned science experiment on the whim of some crazy genius.  At least that explained the bronze arm, something Marty had been most curious about since he'd first seen it.

          "Does it hurt?"  Marty asked without thinking, gesturing towards Vincent's covered left arm.

          Vincent stopped scanning the streets for a second and gave Marty an odd look.

          "No."

          _At least not physically, _ Marty thought, seeing the odd look.  Though that odd look could have been described many ways, he felt it was given more out of impatience.  Marty could understand that.  Despite Vincent usual silence, he'd managed to get a decent amount of information out of the guy.  And even though he was proud of his effort he could tell that Vincent's limited patience was wearing thin. Still, his luck was holding, perhaps it would hold for a few questions yet.

"So can you really transform yourself into a beast to kill enemies? I mean I know it sounds a little far fetched, but I was wondering if that rumor is true."

          Vincent stopped in the middle of the debris filled street and turned toward Marty who had stopped right alongside him.  Vincent's red eyes were narrowed alarmingly, the bronze claws, now not hidden, were clenched into a metal fist.  These were the only outward things that told Marty that Vincent was angry and in itself wasn't particularly threatening.  On a man who doesn't visibly show his emotions often, it was as effective as a blow to the face.

          Marty swallowed thickly and unconsciously took a step back. 

          _Maybe less than a few._

          "If you wish to find out, perhaps you should continue with your interrogation."

          After he had spoken Vincent continued scouting ahead leaving the other man routed to the spot, his heart in his throat.

          Eventually Rulf caught up to him.  A big smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Yeah, you's are real good buddies."

          Then Rulf walked passed him as well, following Vincent up the street toward the outline of a large gutted building standing directly ahead.

*

Okay, so the Shinra building was a mess.  So the top few floors had been blasted away, their remains lying across half of Sector Four on the other side of the city.  Well, it was nothing they hadn' t imagined seeing.  Still, it took Marty's breath away just looking at it.  Such an icon of power left to rot in a dead city, under a dark cloud, long forgotten by anyone who ever might have cared about it's past might.

Well, maybe not forgotten about all.  After all, Rulf and Marty were well aware and cared a lot about the building's history.  And it might mean big bucks for both of them.  Specifically if what they were after was still here and hadn't been picked up by some desperate person earlier.  Marty and Rulf were after some of Shinra's wealth.  Not necessarily money.  But Shinra wasn't just wealthy in money terms.  It was what the  money was spent on that interested the two just as much.  Only problem was, now that they were here, they weren't quite sure where to start looking, or even what it was they were exactly looking for.  'Stuff' and 'riches' covered a lot of ground.  And so unfortunately did the Shinra building, literally.  And since Meteor, even more ground now.

It didn't seem as though their 'friend' had any troubles deciding where he needed to go.  He headed straight for what was left of the building's entrance. 

"Vincent? Where are you going?"

It was a stupid question really and one that Marty already knew the answer to.  Well sort of.   Vincent was going into the Shinra building, what the hell did it friggin' look like he was doing?

Vincent just turned slightly, politely but with a look that made it clear that the question didn't need a response.

"We should come with you." Marty decided boldly.  "You don't know what you mind find in there."

Vincent turned and continued on his previous course. "No."

Marty looked to Rulf for guidance but, his friend merely rolling his eyes.  "C'mon, we can find what we were lookin' for without Ifrit's dark brother.  We'll start in the armory."

Marty nodded and watched as Vincent disappeared into the darkness of the Shinra building.  He had hoped Vincent was going to help, but that didn't seem very likely.  He didn't know why he had expected anything more.

As it turned out, the armory was the perfect place to start looking.  So long as all you wanted was weapons and a shit load of them.  Rulf, being an arms dealer, took a few of the more interesting pieces from the collection, but both knew that nobody really had much money for fancy things these days so they mainly left the armory alone.  

Getting to this section of the building, the sections below the lobby, had been far easier than they had initially thought.  It seemed as though a large twister had bought down the back section of the lobby and ripped up the cement directly underneath.  It resulted in the lower floors being exposed in part of the lobby.  Three floors down were visible from the large hole in the lobby floor. The basement levels.  The first one had been the armory. Using a rope they had secured to the stairwell, they had managed to scramble down into it easily enough.  The rope dangled down through the holes and stopped about three foot below the ceiling of the last room.  

The second room down was storage.  Equipment, filing cabinets, anything deemed too important for Shinra to have thrown out, but useless enough not to take up more important space.  Unfortunately everything fragile had been broken.  Beakers, materia and a few holding tanks.  The whole place looked like a mad scientists garage sale.  

Marty wandered over to one of the filing cabinets and idly flicked through the contents.

"Gast." He read out aloud.  "Hey Rulf, ever hear about a guy named Gast?"

Rulf opened his mouth to reply in the negative but was cut off by a voice floating down from above, through the hole in the ceiling. 

"Professor Gast. Professor Hojo's predecessor."

Light footfalls from the floor above before a dark shape dropped in through the hole to land lightly on the ground in the middle of the room.

Marty pretended that he hadn't been startled by the man's entrance but Rulf didn't seem to mind showing his emotions.  

"Fuck man, you scared tha shit outta me!"

_I think that Vincent has that effect on most people. _Marty thought. He refrained from saying it out loud though.

"You were quick." He said instead.  "Find what you were after?"

"I have been gone for an hour." Vincent told them. "But yes, I did."

"An hour?" Marty questioned absently replacing the file he'd been looking at. "I didn't know we'd been down here that long."

Vincent said nothing further but crouched down and slung a black bag off his bag to rest it on the floor in front of him. Unzipping the black bag he reached a hand in and began to sort through its contents.  Marty couldn't help but creep a little closer to see into the black bag.  A lot of papers that Marty was too far away to see.  A few smaller black and gray pouches. A few photographs and a few files.  Vincent took out a few papers and a black pouch done up with a drawstring and handed them to Marty without explanation.

Opening the pouch first Marty peered inside, his eyes opening rapidly in surprise.  The pouch contained an array of little treasures. A few small red materia orbs, a couple of wads of gil and quite a few small phials containing an array of interestingly colored liquids.  Potions no doubt. Maybe even a few hero drinks.

Still in shock, Marty handed the pouch to Rulf and went over the papers Vincent had handed him.

"Fuck me." Rulf mumbled eyeing the contents of the pouch. 

"Locations?" Marty asked confused, reading off the sheet.

"Shinra had many hidden bunkers around the world for the convenience of traveling Turks, Soldiers and troopers.  These stores usually contain generators, food, water, weapons and communication equipment." Vincent replied straightening up and slipping the black bag onto his back again.

"Fuck me." Rulf repeated. "Where did ya find all this shit?"

"I'd imagine it would be easy if you knew where to look and what you were looking at." Marty answered for Vincent thoughtfully.  "Even divided by three, this is still a major haul. Why do you want to share it with us?"

"I don't." Vincent replied. "It's yours. I have no use for it."

Well, it was official. Marty and Rulf were finally struck speechless.

"We must go soon.  The day grows dark."

With that, Vincent started back toward the rope, his two companions still gazing at the raven haired man with shock, their mouths hanging open.

Vincent got to the rope and stopped. His gaze shifted upwards, head cocked slightly to the side as if listening.  Taking the rope in one hand, he held onto it tightly.  Now he could even feel the heavy vibrations.  Footsteps up above in the lobby.  From the feet of something very large and very heavy. Moving his gaze up and into the next room, he gauged the strength of the roof of that room, the floor of the lobby.  While the size of the hole may be too small to allow large enemies to get to them, the roof of the floor above was cracking and brittle.  If something large fell through, it's momentum would probable take it down through the entire three floors.  If they survived that, they would be trapped in a very deep hole with a very large monster.

Soundlessly he turned and motioned for the other two to take out their weapons and remain quiet.  From the looks on their faces though, they had guessed what was happening.  Whatever was up there was lumbering around quite noisily now.

The dimmed light that filtered in through the hole was suddenly blocked as the monsters shadow fell over it.  Vincent didn't step back though.  He kept a tight hold of the rope, but switched his hands around so it was now gripped in his claw, leaving his gun hand free.

He had no delusions that the creature would pass them by.  From what he had seen of many of the beasts, they had exceptional hearing and smelling capabilities.  Once sniff of the hole or the rope might give them away easily.  If of course it hadn't already heard them talking before.

The creature above roared, then the sky fell.

Just as Vincent had predicted, once the creature had fallen through the first floor, there was nothing to stop it's plunge other than a few cracked and brittle ceilings.  It didn't stop.

Nothing though was going to shake Vincent's grip on the rope.  Even when to roof across from him caved in, and the floor below him dropped away. A dark gray-green mass dropped along with the floor and finally came to a bone crunching stop on the floor of the third.  It didn't stop the beast though. It lumbered to its feet, throwing off bits of concrete and planks that had fallen on top of it.  

Again it roared.  

The loud noise was piercing in the confined space but he easily fought down the urge to cup his hands over his ears.  Now dangling freely from the rope, he twined one leg around the rope to keep him steady then took out his gun with the other. 

One good result of the ceiling caving in was  that they now had much more light to see by, even under the haze hovering over Midgar.

Casting his eyes around the area below, Vincent was able to make out the vague shapes of his traveling companions.  Rulf had managed to keep a hold of what remained of the second floor in a corner of the room and was attempted to haul himself up onto it. Marty was down below.  A large red gash colored his left arm, his right was busy fumbling for his gun as he backed away from the creature who stalked him across the rubble covering the floor.

There were now two options open to him.  He could leave Marty to defend himself and see how he faired while he got Rulf up the rope and to safety. Or he could fire on the beast and therefore draw its attention to him dangling helplessly on a rope above where the ceiling should have been.

With an derisive half smile, Vincent wrapped his other leg around the rope as well and opened fire on the beast below.

The creature roared and turned away from Marty, it's black eyes searching out the annoyance dangling from the rope above.  

The creature was much the same as the one they had faced together yesterday, with the added bonus that it was possibly four foot taller than the previous. It could easily reach up and take the end of the rope that hung down about seven foot off the floor of the third room. And it was exactly what Vincent was waiting for it to do.  The moment its clawed hand touched the rope, probably intent on ripping it down to get at him, Vincent started sliding down the rope.  A partially controlled decent that brought him down on a fast trajectory toward his target. 

His boots hit the creature's head and Vincent felt rather than heard a slight crunch. He finally let go of the rope and sprang off his perch landing lightly on the rubble below, his gun blazing. He emptied almost his entire clip into the beast and had managed to crack its skull, but still it kept moving.  It lunged at Vincent, its massive arm sweeping out to catch him and knock him back. Vincent rolled underneath the arm and came back up onto his feet very close to the monster. Two more shots into the thing's chest and his clip was empty. The beast wasn't dead.

The back stroke of the arm caught him as he was leaping out of the way. Not hard enough to do him any real serious damage, but enough to fling him backwards and into the wall across from Marty.

Marty went to go to him, but Vincent waved him off.  With gritted teeth he said. "Get to the rope. Now."

Marty hesitated only for the moment it took for Vincent to right himself and stand to face the beast, his crimson eyes beginning to glow.

Sidestepping past the pre-occupied creature, Marty made a running leapt for the rope. He missed. He tried again. And missed again.  He was too short, too hurt and the rope was too far above him.

"Marty!"

Marty spun around to see Rulf crouched on the small section of ceiling in the corner, opposite from the monster and Vincent.  Rulf was leaning over the side, hand hanging over.  His hand didn't reach down much further than the rope, but he could use a pile of debris near the ledge to boost him up.  Turning from the rope, he made a sprint for Rulf. Using the pile of crushed cement and wood as a boost up, he made a leapt for Rulf's outstretched hand.  Lucky for them both, Rulf was a far bigger man than Marty and was able to pull him up without any problems. Once up on the small ledge, Marty turned his attention back to the fight, gun out and ready to help Vincent if necessary. And what he saw almost made him drop his gun.

Vincent stood with his back to the wall behind him, head bowed.  The air around him actually crackled with thin lines of what looked light red lightening.  The air around him also glowed an incandescent red.  As the pair on the ledge watched, Vincent floated up maybe two foot off the floor where he finally raised his head to look at the monster lumbering uncertainly in front of him. His eyes forced a gasp from Marty and a muttered expletive off Rulf.  The glowed a deep blood red. 

Then what happened was even more confusing for the watching duo. Vincent threw his head back in what looked like sudden pain. A cry was wrenched from his throat that sounded like something that started off as a pain filled scream that rapidly turned into a bestial roar. The red air around him shimmered, the sparks of red light intensified almost making Marty avert his gaze.  The red light seemed to dissolve Vincent, then resolve him again. But it wasn't Vincent that floated before the monster anymore.  It was a beast.  A great blue-black beast with wings that extended out as Marty watched.  Marty couldn't help the thought that this beast looked every bit as evil as every description he had ever heard a person come up with to describe a devil.

"Holy shit!" Marty didn't know whether to start shooting the gray monster or the demon.  

He decided after a moments thought to /not/ shoot at the Vincent monster.  While he hadn't been expecting this change in his new friend, he wasn't so shocked that he didn't recognize the beasts description from every rumor he'd heard about the mysterious ex-Turk.  

Shifting his sights back to the big gray monster, both he and Rulf opened fire.  The creature roared from the barrage that pounded it's unprotected back, but it didn't turn to face them either.  Marty couldn't really blame it.  While he and Rulf weren't exactly causing no damage to the massive monster, the Vincent beast sure looked a bigger threat than the two guns they wielded.  Marty only had to wait five more seconds for his theory to prove accurate.  

With another great cry, the winged beast beat it's wings once and dove straight toward the monster in front of it, slashing out with one clawed arm.  Marty thought that the dark beast might crash straight into the enemy, but at the last second swooped to the side, delivering it's blow across the thing's side.  The claws gouged a long deep gash that immediately poured with blood.  This time the monster's roar sounded absolutely pain filled. It swung one heavy arm toward the dark beast that was darting away, but wasn't quick enough to catch the agile beast.  

The Vincent beast swept away and performed a tight circle in mid air, bringing itself back round to face their enemy's back.  Another claw raked down the monster's back.  This time the monster definitely stumbled and almost lost it's footing.  Marty could imagine that Vincent had almost severed the thing's spinal column with that last slash. 

After that, the thing practically went nuts.  It swung it's arms through the air around it, trying to nail at least one hit on the attacking beast.  And while the Vincent beast was quick, even in the confined space, the enraged creature did managed to land one hit.  A heavy handed swipe across one of the beast wing's.  It practically spun the beast, and resulted in him tumbling to the floor across the other side of the room.  For a while, Vincent didn't move.

Marty redoubled his efforts hoping that maybe he could draw the creature's wrath away from their fallen companion until Vincent had had enough time to recuperate. It wasn't working. The creature seemed far more determined to finish its main threat off first.  It began lumbering, slowly across the floor to where Vincent lay, still in beast form, but unmoving.  He must have hit the wall behind him and been knocked dizzy if not unconscious.  

Desperately, Marty tried to work out some way to at least distract the monster.  Everything he came up with ultimately meant getting back down off the ledge and physically joining the fight.  Not a great plan, but he couldn't just stay up here and watch the monster kill Vincent.  He went toward the edge of the ledge, preparing to lower himself down when Rulf grabbed his arm.

"No." Rulf commanded simply.

"I can't just…"

Marty was interrupted by an echoing cry.  At first he'd thought it was Vincent, wounded.  But he realized that this cry was not one of pain, more of a war cry in fact.  And it hadn't come from below (though almost every sound echoed around the newly created pit), it came from above. 

With the sudden shout, both Marty and Rulf snapped their heads up toward the sound to see a very unexpected sight.  A man was sliding down their rope with reckless speed. 

From the cry Marty could almost believe that the man was on some amusement park ride instead of sliding down a rope toward a pit where a massive gray monster in a bad mood was about to rip a beasts head off.  Not to mention the man was doing this seemingly unarmed.  Marty couldn't get a good look at the presumably insane man.  Dressed in stained grey trench coat, mousy, oily shoulder length hair whipped about his face. The man came to the end of the rope without slowing and dropped the rest of the way to the ground, landing with jarring intensity straight into a crouch.  He seemed unhurt surprisingly. Either that or uncaring. He straightened, in the same movement reaching his right hand across into the left beneath his coat and drew out a shotgun. Marty was glad he had been wrong at least about him being unarmed. Slowly the man bought his head up, his hair dangling in sweaty clumps over his eyes. Apparently he could see far clearer than Marty imagined though, cause when he saw the monster, the corner of his mouth curled up into a half smirk.  There was nothing warm about the smile.  The fact that he was smiling at all reminding Marty how insane this guy must be.  If anything, he seemed amused.

The monster, still intent on Vincent must have sensed this new threat so close and turned to face him in roar of fury.  The man just kept his position, not moving as the monster came on its new heading toward him, Vincent now thankfully forgotten.  The appearance of the psycho though gave Vincent the time he apparently needed to gather his wits.  The beast pushed itself up onto it's hands and scanning the room.  He still didn't seem ready to jump back into action, but he was recovering fast and had managed to get to his feet by the time the creature had reached the new arrival standing still calmly in the center of the room.

The creature raised one mighty claw and swept it toward its new target.  Just as composed, he raised his gun at the sweeping claw and fired.  The monster howled in rage and pain and quickly retracted its arm.  He had blow its hand off, well most of it at any rate.  The section of wall behind the monster was splattered with a gory spray of red. 

The man lowered his sights and took another shot straight at the thing's left leg.  Marty couldn't believe it. Was this guy going to kill the thing by blowing off different parts of it at a time!  

_Was he going to kill it at all, or simply just blow bits off it?_

A shiver crept up Marty's spine at the thought.

Vincent was back in the air by this point and making  a bee-line toward the monster.

The man's head swiveled up to face Vincent.

"Take the others. I don't need help." Came the firm command. 

To Marty's further disbelief, the beast seemed to falter mid-flight as if seriously thinking the order over.  The beast changed course and flew toward the ledge where Marty and Rulf waited.  With a few flaps of his black wings he settled on the ledge and turned its red eyes on its companions.  One clawed hand was raised and beckoned for the two to come closer.

Marty wasn't sure about Rulf, but he was ready to shit himself.  The beast hadn't seemed to friendly from afar. Up close it looked evil.

"Yer fuckin' kiddin' me." Was Rulf's answer.

A shotgun's loud retort caused all three to snap their heads back in the direction of the fight.  The man had fired at the other leg.  The thing was down on it's copiously bleeding knees, but was still swiping at the man with it's uninjured hand. The man sprang backwards out of the way before leveling the gun at that arm and firing.  The man was as covered in blood as it's enemy (thought Marty seriously doubted any of it was his). It was getting very gory down there.

Vincent motioned toward them a little more vigorously.  

With a deep shaking breath, Marty took one step toward Vincent.  When he saw that Rulf wasn't moving, he caught hold of his arm and dragged him over as well. The beast began to hover. Vincent secured them, one under each arm then began his ascent. 

It was obvious that Vincent was struggling with the weight of them both, but the ascent went faster than Marty would have liked.  He squeezed his eyes closed and didn't open them again till he could no longer feel the arm supporting him and began to drop.  He dropped maybe four feet onto solid pavement.  When he opened his eyes he saw that he was now back in the lobby of the Shinra building.  Vincent, the man not the beast, was standing tensely by the hole in the ground now substantially larger than when they had first crawled down through it.

Marty got to unsteady feet and stumbled over to Vincent.  He was quite shocked to see that Vincent wore a look of something akin to worry.  He wasn't necessarily surprised that Vincent was worried.  He was surprised that any emotion at all was on the man's face.

"Vincent…what….?"

Vincent held up a hand to silence him, his eyes never leaving to hole below.  Marty looked down as well.  The hole's interior was too gloomy to make anything out.  He did notice that the sounds of battle had stopped though.  

And climbing up the rope, just at the edge of where the gloomy light did reach he saw the man. Climbing up the rope. Marty felt very relieved. He wouldn't have liked to think that their rescuer had died down there. Insane or not, the man had saved their lives.

Covered in blood and filth, hair matted with grime, sweat and blood, he hooked one hand over the lip of the hole and pulled himself up onto solid ground. He stood, bent over, breathing heavily for a while. 

Vincent went to take one step toward him and hesitated. Again that surprised Marty. Nothing Vincent ever did was halting or emotional.  Curious, Marty looked the man over carefully thinking that perhaps he was the reason for Vincent's immense change in attitude.  Marty didn't recognize the man as anyone from AVALANCHE. 

"Are you okay?" Marty asked him.

The man raised his head, hair still falling over his brow and partially obscuring his eyes.  Marty received no response to his question.  The man wasn't even looking at him.  He was staring directly at Vincent.

Again that firm commanding voice came back.  This time though it sounded a bizarre mixture of anger and hurt.

"_'I'll be back soon. I promise,_'" he spat at Vincent. "Well you sure took your fucking time."

*************

_Notes: I was hoping to have the ending somewhat a little differently to that scene. But I guess this worked. I'm sure you'll let me know if it didn't. _

_Well, we have a Rufus.  And what a grand entrance did he make huh?  You just gotta drool.  My problem with the ending was I didn't want to make it sound as though it was all that important to Rufus. Loosing Vincent an all.  But at the same time I did.  I'm sure somebody could have made that work.  But I'm not that good so you'll have to deal with it __J__ But ass kicking a plenty, and I'm sure it more than made up for it.  Not to mention the transformation scene.  Teehee, half the time I wonder if I just began this Fic for the want to write that bit. I hope I did it justice. Next chapter being plotted as I type._

_Unsure, but willing (as always)_

_AF_

_anime_fearie@excite.com_

_All stories can be found on the 70th Floor at Neo Midgar_

_http://www.geocities.com/anime_fearie/_

_The true source of evil._


	3. The Very Unlikely Hero

**Do What You Will**

_By AF_

Chapter III

The Very Unlikely Hero

Marty looked over his bowl of soup at the man sitting across the fire. Immediately he wished he hadn't.  As soon as Marty's eyes had settled on the man, he had looked up as if feeling the gaze and offered Marty a rather deranged smile.  Nothing in the smile spoke of humor or mirth. Rather an invitation to die more than anything.  

          Marty couldn't see the man's eyes either.  The oily streaks of brown hair that seemed constantly to hang over half of his face was hiding the entire top portion of the man's face.  But he was under no delusions that the man could not see his.

          Quickly averting his gaze, his eyes found Vincent.  Vincent was sitting off on a right angle to Marty and was staring into the fire neither moving nor speaking.  Not that that was unusual with Vincent. But the whole scene reeked of uncomfortable ness.  Rulf seemed to feel it too. Seated beside Marty he would occasionally shift positions or cough very softly

          Stupid really. After the fight they'd just lived through, he'd imagined they should all be celebrating rather than sitting in awkward silence. He admitted that the fight itself had been weird. But if you didn't count Vincent turning into some demon beast from hell, or the appearance of their apparently lunatic rescuer, Marty thought things had gone quite well.

          "Good fight." Marty remarked stupidly, breaking the silence.

          Rulf looked as though he couldn't decide to laugh at his companion or tell him to shut the hell up. "How d'you figure?"

          "We're alive?" Marty offered shrugging.

          "You won't be for much longer." Their newest companion stated in that clear tone of his.  "Nothing survives Midgar but the monsters."

          Well, that put a dampener on the conversation for Marty and Rulf.  They quieted down and uncomfortably studied their bowls. 

          To further illustrate the weirdness of the night, it was Vincent that kept the conversation going. "You did." He said lifting his eyes from the fire to rest solidly on the man.  "Are you the only exception to the rule?"

          The man grinned that grin of his again, this time at the fire in front of him.  "No."

          That even seemed to shut Vincent up.

          Clearly the two didn't enjoy each other's company.  Marty had to wonder why Vincent had insisted on the other man staying with them. The man wasn't part of Avalanche, Marty was sure.  The only one of Avalanche's members that seemed to come close to fitting this man's description was their leader. Cloud Strife wasn't it? Even then it was a long shot. This man was too tall, not stocky enough.  Marty hadn't exactly seen a lot of Avalanche himself, but like most, he knew their descriptions. He almost felt like blatantly asking the man who he was. But for some unaccountable reason, Marty thought it rude. Stupid really after all they'd been through earlier.

          So if he wasn't part of Avalanche, he was from somewhere else. Obviously someone Vincent knew.  If the rumors about Vincent held true, that made things even more difficult. According to rumor Vincent was close to sixty years old. Not that you could tell by looking at him. He appeared no more than someone in their late twenties. Marty was inclined to believe the rumor though. Especially after that last one had been proved true in front of his very eyes. So how could Vincent know this man if he weren't in Avalanche? He'd spent the last thirty or so years locked in a basement or something hadn't he? From before then. Before Vincent's apparent incarceration. When Vincent was a Turk.  But that didn't make sense either.  This man sitting across from could be no older than mid thirty.  He couldn't possibly know him from Shinra unless the Shinra had been in the habit of hiring at an extremely young age. Where then? The question wouldn't have bothered Marty so much had the man not made such a show at rescuing them. He was intriguing enough (although a little scary), let alone being acquaintances with the mysterious Vincent Valentine. 

          _Just who /are/ you? _Marty asked the man silently.

          "I didn't think it would be safe to start a fire tonight." He said instead.  "Wouldn't we be attracting attention?"

          The man shook his head.  "Scared of the fire." He answered.

          His voice betrayed a rather odd tone this time.  Gone was the clear authoritative voice.  This time he sounded a little flat and possibly even a little frightened.

          "The monsters are scared of the fire?" Marty asked.

          The man nodded but his attention seemed to be diverted by the flames.  Marty took the opportunity to cast a questioning look Vincent's way. As secretive as Vincent usually was about most everything Marty asked him, he was most relieved when Vincent inclined his head slightly, indicating they should move away.  Another sign that things were indeed weird.  

          Marty motioned for Rulf to stay put and got up to follow Vincent a little ways off, out of the light of the fire. When they seemed to be out of earshot of the others Marty risked a whispered; "Friend of yours?"

          "Yes and no."

          Marty settled himself on a large slab of concrete, putting Vincent in between himself and the glow of the fire.  The backlit caped figure relaxed his pose but remained standing.  In this position, Vincent was little more than a well defined but dark shape against the glow.  It didn't really matter. Odds were that any facial expressions Vincent might use would be too subtle to recognize anyway.

          "Not sure if you've noticed, but the man is a little unbalanced. Though I suppose he ought to be being around here for gods know how long."

          "He ought to be dead." Vincent stated quite seriously.

          "Know what you mean.  Don't think he was joking when he said what he said about surviving in a place like this."

          "No." Vincent interrupted. "He really ought to be dead. That blast should have killed him."

          Marty wasn't sure, but by the tone of Vincent's voice, he sounded more like he was talking to himself rather than to him. Marty pressed the advantage though, seeing this as an opportunity to get some information out of the usually quiet man.

          "What blast?

          "From Diamond Weapon. He should have died."

          Now Marty was really confused. "Diamond Weapon? You mean that big hulking white monster that fired on Midgar?"

          Vincent nodded.  "Rufus was reportedly in his office when it was struck. He shouldn't have survived."

          "Oh." Marty responded instantly. Then he thought about it. This time it was a more pronounced "/Oh/". Then; "Rufus? No no no, you have /got/ to be kidding.  Are you telling me that that starved lunatic with the matted hair and grimy clothes is the President of Shinra Inc.? The guy that slid, bare-handed down a rope to land in a pit facing a monster five times his size is the man who was in charge of the biggest richest company on the planet?" Marty shook his head.  "Weird sense of humor Vincent, and not very funny."

          Vincent looked at him directly. "I do not joke."

          "But…but…he should be dead!"

          Vincent just stared at him.  "That was my point."

          "Taken, taken." Marty said quickly. "Any idea how he isn't? Or why the hell he's still hanging around here?"

          Vincent seemed to think on this for a moment. "_Nothing survives Midgar but the monsters." _Vincent said absently, repeating Rufus' earlier words.  

          "But he has survived." Marty pointed out.  "Maybe he thinks he's one of them you know.  He obviously isn't really himself at the moment. Though President Shinra was never noted for his solid ideas and sane planning."

          "Either than or he thinks he didn't survive."

          Marty rolled his eyes.  "Tell me we're talking to a ghost and I run screaming like school girl."

          He could have been imagining it, but he thought he detected a small smile in Vincent's voice. "I assure you, Rufus is very much alive."

          "Good." Marty said.  "You going to kill him?"

          Vincent seemed to be taken a little aback by this. Another first. "Why?"

          "Well, I mean you are or were a part of Avalanche right? You and the ex-President are enemies aren't you?"

          "Yes an no." Vincent repeated. "But he is no longer the threat he used to be. I will not kill him. I will take him somewhere where he can be protected. I owe him that much."

          Although extremely curious Marty didn't press the meaning in Vincent's last statement. "So we take him with us. You know if he's recognized, there could be trouble. After what happened, he isn't the world's favorite person right now. Though neither are Avalanche around these parts."

          "He would be hard to recognize as you've already demonstrated.  On the odd chance we meet with others we'll refer to him by another name." Vincent seemed to take a deep breath before continuing. "He needs rest now. We all do. I will take first watch."

          Sensing that their conversation was now at an end, Marty got up from his seat and dusted his pants as he began walking back.  "Whatever you say.  We owe you enough, I'll tell Rulf when I get a chance. You can trust us."

          In an unexpected move, Vincent caught Marty by his arm as he wandered past. Not a hard grip, but somewhat friendly.

          "Thank you."

          Marty nodded, unsure what to say.  "No problem, I mean I…"

          The sound of Rulf's shouts interrupted their conversation.  Both of their heads snapped back in the direction of the firelight.  Marty could vaguely make out Rulf's figure up on his feet urgently shouting and pointing off into the darkness on the other side of the camp.

          "Company?" Marty asked warily.

          "No." Vincent answered. "Something else."

          Together they set off toward the camp at a mild sprint.  They arrived only seconds later and were soon able to hear Rulf's words.

          "I only turned my back for a few seconds to get something outta me pack. S'not like I left him here an' wandered off ya know." Rulf told them quickly.

          "What happened?" Marty asked confused looking around camp quickly to see what could possibly have been the matter.  Only one thing seemed to be missing and it was Vincent who first noticed it.

          "Where's Rufus?"

***********************

          _Run! _

_          Quickly!_

_          Hide!_

_          You don't want /her/ to get you again!_

The urgent voice ran through Rufus' head over and over again.  He wasn't about to stop and wonder. He knew what was happening. He could still feel the stinging pain on his cheek.  Taste the rust in his mouth.  And he hadn't done much this time.  Not really. All he'd wanted was a drink.  He was so thirsty.  Even though he had known the rules, he'd asked for something to drink.

          _"You get nothing till you've finished your studies."_

Well, he'd been at his studies for five hours. His mouth had gone dry. He was hungry.  He was sure that not even /she/ was allowed to treat him that way.  But who was he going to complain to? Who would care?

          _Tseng might care._

True. He might. But Tseng was also one of his teachers. Sure Tseng was nothing like the old hag upstairs, but he was still a teacher. A keeper. Someone that still caused him pain.  He wouldn't go to Tseng. After all he was thirteen years old now. Surely he was old enough to handle things himself.

          Then why did he still feel like running and hiding?

          _Because you hit her back. You knocked her out. You've never done that before._

He'd always taken the abuse with little whining and kept his chin up. Courtesy of his disciplinary training by Tseng. Not this time though.  It wasn't so much the pain.  Even though he could still taste the blood from the tooth that bitch had knocked out. It was more out of pride. Obviously doing nothing and being passive wasn't working. It wasn't enough for her just to see him take the abuse with dignity and uncaring. No. He had needed to intimidate her just as she had tried to intimidate him. Make her feel how he felt. So what if he missed out on five minutes precious study in order to get a glass of water? Life would go on. He certainly wasn't going to get any stupider because of it.  It was because she was mean. Plain and simple.  And for once, Rufus had felt like being mean right back.

          But he was going to catch Holy hell for what he'd done. He knew that. And so he ran.  He didn't know where he was going. He'd just gotten into the elevator and let his feet take him. Weirdly enough, he ended up on the 67th Floor.  He hadn't been on this floor in years.  

          Slowing his pace he took an opportunity to look around.  Nothing much had changed that he could remember. But he wasn't really noticing much.  He was still a little afraid. A few people looked at him oddly as he passed.  He quickened his pace a little after noticing a couple of the looks.  If he was recognized, he'd be screwed.  At the first chance he got he took a detour off into a little storage section and quickly headed in amongst the boxes.  He lost himself in them easily enough. Surely no one would notice him here.  But he didn't stop. Keeping on his course he ended up facing the small service elevator at the back of the storage section.  He couldn't understand why he'd come here. He was only acting under the impulse to hide.

          Right?

          He entered the elevator and pushed the button.

          As the elevator moved, he remembered the last time he'd been here. He'd been running away then too.  He'd wanted to get away, be by himself for a little while.  Find someone, anyone who wouldn't be like all the others.

          And he'd found /him/.

          His friend. His /only/ friend in the world.

          And then his friend had left him.

          _"I'll be back. I promise."_

Yeah right.

          He'd been worried about Vincent since that day. He'd left so abruptly but he'd never once indicated that he'd never come back.  Rufus had imagined that something horrible must have happened.  And why not? The world was a horrible and controlling place for Rufus.  Filled with things that wanted to hurt you and look down on you. It was depressing to think Vincent had come to something bad.  Rufus had never wanted to imagine something like that for his friend. It was far easier to think that Vincent had just gone away and decided never to return. That he'd found something better than this place somewhere. That he'd left Rufus and Midgar behind him.  It hurt a lot to think he'd been abandoned. But it hurt less than believing Vincent was dead.  He was just simply…gone.

          Often he'd felt the temptation to go to the cafeteria where they'd spent so much time. Or other places Vincent had spent time with him. The Turk offices were no good. They only reminded him of Tseng now. Not a horrible thing, but not what he was looking for.  The temptation was always bought on with the ridiculous notion that if he went there he might see Vincent. He /knew/ Vincent wasn't coming back. Tseng had told him so. Didn't mean that Rufus couldn't wish he'd some back. Or at least hope.  But never once had he entertained the notion of returning to the stinky lab where they'd first met.  Now it looked as if he might.

          The elevator deposited him on the right floor. It was just as he remembered. Like a morgue. And dark.  All the lights were out again.  Didn't they /have/ any lights on this floor?

          He was a little shaky, but he forced himself onwards.

          Not everything was the same as he found out.  The office at the back wasn't lighted and there was an odd whirring sound coming from a machine near the center table.  The table itself was too far into the room and sheathed in darkness. The machine though that stood beside the table on a bench flashed occasionally from a small green light on the side. Luminous red numbers lit up the display next to the light. The numbers seemed to be showing random three digit numbers that changed every few seconds.  Curious, Rufus forgot his fears and approached the intriguing machine.  He was able to get up close to it, but still wasn't able to make out what it was doing. He was only allowed a few minutes to ponder his anyway. A black shape darted up from the steel table and touched something next to the machine. A soft lamp light came on, making Rufus yell and jump back in surprise.

          Blinking furiously,  Rufus tried focus his eyes after the darkness of the room to see what had happened and whether he should run.

          The thing that had darted past him had been an arm. It belonged to whatever must have been lying on the steel table. Had been there the whole time while Rufus had snuck in up close. 

          While the light had shocked him, it now allowed him to see the immediate area a little more clearly.  The figure on the table sat up and turned his head toward Rufus with a confused expression.  Rufus noted, even a tad less calmly, that the figure was that of a boy perhaps only a year or two younger than himself.  (Could have been more though. Rufus had never really been around kids his own age very often.) A boy with shoulder length gray hair that looked upon him with the most startling luminous green eyes Rufus had ever seen.  

          The whirring machine, he could see now, was a tall rectangular box that had two wires and one tube,  connected to it. All these seemed to be attached to the boy. The tube in his left (the side closest to Rufus) arm. The wires with a small square patch attached to the end were stuck to his left temple and his bare chest. 

          "Who are you?" The boy questioned.

          There seemed to be no malice in the boy's voice. He just looked confused as to why Rufus had disturbed him. Despite this, Rufus couldn't seem to keep his voice steady.

          "Ru…Rufus."

          "Rufus." They boy repeated rolling the name on his tongue thoughtfully. Eventually he seemed to come to some sort of decision and smiled at Rufus.

          "Hello Rufus. My name is Sephiroth."

          He had a pleasant voice, smooth and unconcerned.  Rufus felt himself relaxing slightly. But not entirely.  The boy was hooked up to a machine in a dark lab after all. The scene spoke nothing of normality.  Then again it was a scene, emotionally, Rufus didn't find surprising at all.

          "Hi."

          An awkward few moments passed after this. Awkward for Rufus anyhow. Sephiroth just seemed content to sit and look him over. Rufus couldn't help the feeling that he was being studied.  Rufus was just thinking of politely excusing himself. Instead when his mouth opened something else popped out.

          "What are you doing here?"

          Sephiroth got that confused look again for a moment before his face brightened a little finally seeming to understand the question.  He looked down at the wire in his arm and shrugged. "I need treatments from the professor fairly regularly."

          "Is there something wrong with you?" Rufus could have smacked himself after asking such and insensitive question. The last thing he wanted to do was alienate anyone.

          Sephiroth only seemed to smile at the question as if it amused him. "Not for much longer. At least that is what I am told. Once I'm better the treatments will stop. It has been happening for so long though, it doesn't seem unusual for me anymore."

          The response took Rufus back a little. Did Sephiroth realize how weird it looked to Rufus? He'd hoped it hadn't shown on his face so much.

          "What are /you/ doing here?" Sephiroth asked still with that amused expression.

          "Hiding." Rufus answered distractedly. He was still thinking about Sephiroth's last question..  When it occurred to him just what he'd let slip, he blushed a little and shut his mouth.

          Sephiroth seemed to like his answer though and began unhooking himself from the various bits of machine.  "This isn't a good place to be hiding. The Professor will be back shortly and probably wouldn't like me talking to you."

          Once he'd taken care of everything he swung his legs over the side of the table and hopped down.  He was wearing loose black pants, no shoes and no shirt. He looked quite fit for a boy his age.  Rufus couldn't figure out what could possibly be wrong with him.  Bright glint in his eye, quick movements, nothing that would suggest a sickness dire enough to need a Shinra top scientist  to treat him. Rufus wasn't about to question it again though.

          "Come with me, I know far better hiding places than this. Unless of course you wish to be alone."

          Rufus immediately shook his head. "No. I'll stay with you, um, Sepher, Seph.." Rufus stumbled over the unusual name. His mind hadn't really been focused when they'd been introduced.

          "Seph…" Sephiroth repeated just as he had with Rufus' name. "I like that. You may call me 'Seph' if that is easier."

          Rufus nodded a little embarrassed that he hadn't been able to use Seph's full name. "Sure. Where are we going? Won't the Professor be looking for you?"

          "Probably. But if he knew where I was going it wouldn't exactly be 'hiding' would it?" Seph grinned and crossed over to the doorway.

          Rufus smiled slightly with the answer and hurried to catch up to his new friend.

***********************************************************

          Marty flinched as a new sound disturbed the silence off to his right.  All night they had heard these close noises of things moving around. Never more than once within ten minutes, and always just outside the light cast by the flaming torch in Rulf's hand.  He didn't bother raising his gun to the sound. At first both he and Rulf had fired at the darkness, but the sounds never went away or changed. If wondered vaguely if Rufus had been right, that the monsters were scared of the flame.

          "Dunno why we're traipsin' 'round in the dark afta the nutter anyway. If he wants ta run off fine. Good riddance even. Don't mean we gotta risk our necks to find 'im ya know." Rulf whispered to Marty.

          "He's scared and confused and clearly not thinking with his whole brain. We can't just leave him out here."

          "My conscience would sleep just fine if we did. I don't care who he was or how many screw he's got loose. He's capable enough to leave under his own wind if he wants to."

          Marty didn't respond to that. He'd thought exactly the same thing at first. If Rufus wanted to get out of Midgar he'd shown himself plenty capable of doing it himself.  The fact that he was Rufus Shinra did little to make much difference. If anything he felt less like wanting to go after him. So many people had died in this nightmare city as an indirect result of the Shinra family. Why did Rufus deserve a better fate?  Because it was more his father's fault than his own? Because he was human? Maybe. Maybe not. Most likely, he deserved it because Vincent said so and he'd asked for their help.

          At present, Vincent was further ahead, an uncomfortable amount of distance out of the torch light, scouting for signs of Rufus. So far they had been trudging in and around the Shinra building for three hours. Marty had given up on the idea that Vincent would ever find any traces of Rufus. If Rufus didn't want to be found, it seemed as though Rufus would not be found.  For all they knew, he was hiding from them on purpose.

          At least he had given up on the idea of finding him till Vincent called for the light.

          "Bring that torch up here."

          Rulf grumbled something unintelligible that Marty assumed was unpleasant before moving up the line and stopping near Vincent.  He had stopped near a large slab of frame work that used to belong to one of the top floors of the Shinra building.  Marty caught up to his companions quickly, not wanting to be left too far out of the light.

          "Find something?" He asked Vincent.

          Vincent answered him by putting one finger to his lips and gestured to a spot just beyond the twisted metal.  Beyond them the ground sloped downwards to form a somewhat deep depression in the earth. The lower ground stretched on farther than Marty could see and looked as though something large and round had been dropped there then taken away.  More than likely with the quakes that had spread through Midgar during the attack by Meteor, a lot of the underground tunnels and rooms (that he knew by now surrounded the Shinra building) had caved in. At least that would account for the valley like thing in front of them.  It took him a little while though before he spotted what Vincent had been gesturing to.  Inside the depression was littered with other things that must have once resided high up in the tower. Filing cabinets, splintered desks, tables, huge glass cylinders, gutted vending machines and more. While Diamond Weapon had really only blew out the very top floor, Meteor seemed to have sure made up for the rest.  In the middle of the junk basin sat Rufus.  He sat cross-legged on a plain metallic looking gray table that had somehow remained upright. He sat head bowed, shotgun resting easily over his legs.  He didn't move a muscle as he sat there. He almost looked like a statue.

          _Or a corpse._

Marty hastily brushed the thought aside.  He really didn't need to start thinking that way.  Midgar was bad enough as it was.

          "What's he doing?" Marty whispered.

          Vincent ignored the question. "Stay here."

          Both Marty and Rulf nodded and watched Vincent as he began to silently pick his way down into the depression.

          "He betta not take too long." Rulf grumbled quietly.  "This place is givin' me the creeps."

          Marty nodded again absently and watched Vincent approaching Rufus.

          Vincent was still maybe twenty foot away and creeping along silently when Rufus vocally acknowledged his presence.  It surprised him a little that he didn't catch Rufus by surprise. Still, the ex-President of Shinra Inc. had been surprising him a lot lately.

          "You came back." Rufus said quietly still with his head bowed.

          "I found you, you mean." Vincent replied a little confused.

          Rufus lifted his head and blinked at Vincent a few times as if coming out of a daze. He swept his grimy hair off his brow and leant back on the table propping himself up with his hands. "Yeah."

          Vincent stopped still a little ways off from where Rufus sat, not wanting to get too close and scare Rufus off again. This was also the first time since meeting up with him that Vincent had gotten a good look at the man's face. Somehow he wished he hadn't.  A large scar that started just below the hairline, ran halfway down one side of his face. Through his left eyebrow and stopped just below his eye. Vincent imagined that if Rufus still retained vision in that eye, that is wasn't very good.  Another two sat parallel to each other on the right side of his forehead. One bigger than the other ran just above his right eyebrow, the other slightly higher, just above that and maybe half the length. None looked especially deep and Vincent assumed that somewhere along the line Rufus had gotten a hold of a Cure materia. While it had healed him, it had left him with scars for life.  They must have been nasty wounds. And he severely doubted the rest of Rufus' body had fared any better. 

"What are you doing here?"

"Hiding." Rufus answered.  "What are /you/ doing here?"

"I came to Midgar looking for information. I came here tonight looking for you."

Rufus seemed to frown slightly at his answer as if it weren't correct or something, but he quickly shook it off. "Well you've found me. Now what?"

"I take you out of Midgar."

"No." Rufus answered simply.  

Vincent hadn't quite been prepared for that particular response.  "This is a dead city Rufus. You can't stay here."

Rufus grinned that weird grin of his.  "I like it here."

Vincent had realized that it may take some talking to convince Rufus that he couldn't stay here.  But he'd always assumed that Rufus would listen to him. After all it seemed as though he remembered him from so many years ago. He just hoped that Rufus remembered that he had once trusted him. Even if he'd only been a young boy at the time. 

"How can you mean that?"

Rufus chewed his lip for a moment in thought.  But this seemed just for show. Rufus knew his own reasoning and was pretending to think the matter over.

"I belong here. Did you know that all these monsters roaming around used to be real people?" Vincent wished he wasn't using such a bright tone of voice considering the subject matter. "My people. But of course you knew that. You took that card off that corpse.  That had the decryption code for those disks you stole. What were you planning to do? Take it to Junon where you can use the Shinra facilities?"

"You were watching?"

"You look surprised. You're not the only one trained by the Turks you know."

That, Vincent /hadn't/ known.

"Yes. I knew they were people." Vincent said instead getting the conversation back on track.

"Did you know what turned them?"

"Mako."

"Correct! Overexposure to mako will do that. In large doses. Even people who were still normal after the reactors must have exploded and who dawdled in the city were changed.  Not quite in the same way, but they were still changed.  Midgar is ripe with the fumes." Rufus took a deep breath, "Can't you smell it?"

Vincent couldn't smell it. Mako didn't really smell which was part of the beauty Shinra saw in it as an energy source. But he knew it was around. That the more time he spent in Midgar the more poisoning he'd get. Not much for the little time he'd been here, especially here in the city center, but it was still here.

"Which is why you should leave here with me."

"Maybe you should just kill me here. I have been here for a very long time.  Tell me my old friend, do my eyes glow yet?"

It wasn't something he hadn't noticed. It was faint, but the glow was there.

"You aren't like them."

Rufus lost the bright look and fixed Vincent with a glare. "Does that make it any better? This is /my/ city. I will stay."

"You don't have to stay in Midgar. You aren't so poisoned as you might think. You are free to do whatever you want." Vincent took another few steps closer to Rufus and watched his expression lighten a little.  "No matter whatever constraints you've had in the past you're free of that now. Though even when restricted, you've never really been constrained totally by it. You're too strong for that. You'll do what you will, Rufus, you always have. 

"And there are better places in the world than this."

Rufus seemed to perk up at this a little.  "Better places to hide?"  

_"Come with me, I know far better hiding places than this."___

His grin became more pronounced. "Show me."

_Well, _Vincent thought to himself, _that was…easy._

_****************_

_Notes: 'Ware the weird chapter.  I know, I could've dragged that last bit out a lot more, but I think I had enough angst in there to make most hate my guts already. Getting interesting? I hope so.  Should get far more interesting soon as I get them out of Midgar and into the world beyond. _

_Sooooooo, Rufus is a bit of a fruit loop. Guess you can't blame the guy with all he's been through.  Good flip side character for Vincent though who seems a little too sane and grounded sometimes.  Hopefully Chapter 4 isn't too far off for those of you following the fic. I promise a saner chapter next time. And more fighting._

_Stay tuned,_

_AF_

_anime_fearie@excite.com_

_All stories can be found on the 70th Floor at Neo Midgar_

_http://www.geocities.com/anime_fearie/_

_Don't forget the mailing list!_


	4. My New Best Friends

Do What You Will

_By AF_

**Chapter IV**

My New Best Friends

          Rufus turned his eyes toward the door of the gymnasium and gave a wistful sigh. Right now he'd give almost anything to go out through that door.

            _And do what? _A voice in his head asked. _Where would you go? You've nowhere else to go unless you'd prefer to be back in your rooms with the beast._ Angrily he ignored the voice. He didn't care that he'd have nowhere to go even if it were permitted. He'd just go. Somewhere. Anywhere…

            "Rufus." The voice pierced his thoughts making him turn back to Tseng quickly. Though from the look on his face, it was evident that Tseng had been trying to get his attention for some time now.

            "Sorry Tseng." Rufus apologized quickly.

            Tseng's faced softened a little at the apology. Quite uncharacteristically for the usually stern Turk.

            "Rather be somewhere else?"

            Rufus paused before answering, thinking the question over carefully. Usually such a question would have sent him stumbling over his own tongue trying to placate his teacher. But this time, Rufus could sense that the question was given out of curiosity rather than irritation at his unfocussed pupil.

            "Kind of." Rufus admitted. 

            "Well, show me you are competent in what I taught you today and I will let you return early."

            Rufus nodded, but it was half-hearted. He hadn't missed Tseng's wording of 'return' rather than just letting him go. He meant that he would allow Rufus to return to his rooms earlier. And honestly, Rufus would have preferred staying here with Tseng for another four hours than let that happen.

            "Ready?" Tseng asked his pupil.

            Rufus quickly dropped into the fighting stance that was becoming second nature to him after years of training under Tseng. In the five years Tseng had been his teacher, he had only began physical defense lessons the last two years. He was enjoying it though. It was much better than the discipline, strategy and other assorted lessons Tseng had been teaching him before.  And after two years, he still had a long way to go.  He was only fourteen after all, and therefore there was only so much Tseng could teach him.  Today, Tseng had been teaching him to reach a certain level of tolerance to pain.  After all, you couldn't fight without being able to stand at least a little pain. Even if your opponent didn't land a single punch, the act of landing a solid hit on that opponent was liable to hurt at least a little. Tseng was trying to teach him to take the pain without dwelling over it.  And so far, Rufus hadn't had a single problem with it. It seemed as though he didn't even really notice the pain until the mock fight was finished. And even then he didn't spare it much thought. At first Tseng had seemed a little perturbed over this. Rufus was consequently puzzled over his reaction. Hadn't he done well and performed exactly how he was meant to?  But instead Tseng had just looked a little too……well worried over it all. But so far he hadn't shared his thoughts as to why.

            Rufus slowly nodded to Tseng's question. 

            "You've performed well, absorbing blows with your fists. This time I want you to sweep my feet out from under me just as he practiced. Your ankle will…"  Tseng's commands tapered off as he looked at something over Rufus' shoulder. Tseng's body went ridged, standing at attention. Curiously, Rufus followed Tseng's gaze. 

            The man who had entered the gym, casually walked over to a nearby bench to where Tseng and Rufus stood. He sat his large frame down onto the bench and looked expectantly at the duo.

            "Sir." Tseng greeted stiffly.

            The older man waved the formalities off with his hand. "No need to be formal Tseng. I just came down to see how the boy is faring under the training. Continue, please."

            Rufus watched Tseng's body relax slightly, but not entirely.  Rufus turned his eyes back to the man who drew so much attention from the Turk. Rufus sure didn't recognize the man. Not really. There was something definitely familiar about the older man, but nothing Rufus could really draw from.

            Putting his back to the man, to face Tseng, Rufus mouthed the question; 'Who is that?'

            At first Tseng seemed puzzled by the question.  Finally after it looked as though the two weren't continuing, the man spoke once more. "Tseng, continue, please. I would like to see what you are teaching my son."

            Rufus froze.

            _'…my son.'_

His son? 

            Slowly, Rufus turned back to the man on the bench and looked again properly.  Slowly more features seemed to look familiar. But older. Crueler. It had been quite a while since Rufus had seen his father, he had begun to forget about him.  All Rufus knew was that one day, he would grow up to take over the company from his father. That, /that/ was the reason for all the lessons. All the necessity for strict obedience.  Rufus had never questioned that. It was all he had known.  But never once had he imagined actually meeting with his father again.  The figure had just become another 'thing' in amongst the rest of the 'things' that Rufus never questioned. One day, he would grow up and take control. And he had to be ready for that. 

            _Just accept it and move on. _He told himself silently. _You've done it with so much,  you can do it with this. _But here was the reason why he just accepted it all without question. Here is what he was expected to become. Here was his only flesh and blood. Looking into the cruel eyes, Rufus found himself for the first time questioning. _Do I really want to become that? _

            "Rufus?" Tseng's voice. Again jarring him out of thoughts he shouldn't be thinking.  Forever his discipline teacher it would seem. Even over Rufus' own private thoughts.

            Obediently, Rufus turned back to face Tseng.  Tseng looked normal, calm, composed. But in his eyes, Rufus could see understanding. It seemed as though Tseng had finally realized Rufus' own confusion. And Rufus was angry at that look. It was easy for Tseng to be sympathetic when he wasn't the one to have to go through it. He couldn't understand how Rufus was feeling!  And suddenly Rufus hated his teacher. Yes he'd show his father what Tseng had taught him. He'd show Tseng too!

            "Ready?" Tseng asked not knowing or having any idea of what was going on behind Rufus' cool look.  

            The boy nodded. Being shorter and younger than Tseng gave him a small advantage over the Turk. Not to mention the burning feeling coursing through his body. Tseng just waited for Rufus' attack, thinking that the boy would just go through what they had been practicing for the day. But Rufus had other ideas. Instead of sweeping in low, as Tseng had told him to, he kicked up high, planting his foot solidly into the Turk's mid-drift. Tseng grunted at the unexpected savage attack. Quickly, Rufus landed a punch in the same area, before finally dropping low and sweeping out Tseng's feet. The surprise attack put Tseng's flat on his back. As soon as he heard that sound of the Turk hitting the floor, Rufus smiled slightly. Smiled at the pain he had caused. It was a grim smile, but Rufus felt elated. As Tseng went down, he jumped onto of the Turk, not giving the man time to re-cooperate and began pummeling him with his fists. Every time his fist hit Tseng's face, Rufus' smile slipped a little more.  It didn't take Tseng long to recover his senses. He grabbed Rufus' wrists to stop the enraged child. Rufus half expected the Turk to hit him back. But Tseng didn't. He just held the boy's wrists seemingly content to wait for Rufus to stop thrashing and settle down.

            "Let me go." Rufus snarled.

            After a few more moments, Tseng obeyed, letting Rufus get to his feet.  Tseng stood up after him, giving Rufus an unreadable look.  Rufus chose to ignore him.

            Clapping came from the closest bench. The President stood, still clapping. "Well, done Tseng. He's quite the little fighter."

            Tseng didn't response. His eyes still glued to Rufus. 

            The President stopped by Rufus and clapped the young man on the back. The familiar gesture did nothing to ease Rufus' anger. He raised his head slightly, still breathing a little raggedly from a combination of the small fight and his raging emotions. He looked at his father through his lashes, a fierce look in his eyes.  His father promptly removed his hand and backed up a small step.  Not that the tone of his voice changed in any way.  He kept going as he hadn't seen the look.

            "Keep up the good work Tseng. It seems to be paying off. Now If you'll excuse me.."

            Rufus watched his father walk toward the double doors of the gym.  Once he caught sight of the doorway, the fierce look in his eyes melted only to be replaced by a horrified expression. His father didn't seem to see the boy standing by the door. Or if he did he didn't seem to care what the boy was doing there. But Rufus saw. And he knew that the boy had seen him. He felt very ashamed of himself.  Across the room, Sephiroth regarded him with cool, but slightly concerned eyes. Rufus couldn't handle the look. And as he always did when he got frightened, he ran. He ran right past his friend, away from his teacher and out of the room.

            He didn't stop running till he felt cool breeze on his cheek and he realized that he'd come out onto a small balcony.  He figured he must have run down a few flights of stairs to get to this floor. None of the upper floors had balconies being so high up. But Rufus was glad he'd found it. The cool wind helped him regain some amount of control over his swirling thoughts. He fought his emotions down and forced himself to take a few deep breaths of fresh air. Finally he quit shaking and was able to think clearly. Too clearly. What had he done? So focused was he in not wanting to become the mysterious father figure with the cruel gaze that he had turned into just that.  He didn't want that. It occurred to him that he had never questioned things in his life before because he just simply did not want to have to think about it. It was easier to pretend to be ignorant, unfeeling and follow his orders. And look where that had gotten him. He was confused and angry with himself. He hadn't been angry with Tseng. Not really. He'd been angrier with himself. 

            _But how easy had it been to blame others. To hurt Tseng._

_And it had felt good._

            The thoughts chilled Rufus as much as the cold wind. He wandered up to the railing and absently looked down. He must still be up forty floors. The ground looked so far away from up here…

            "Rufus?"

            The soft voice behind him made him spin around, startled.

            Sephiroth stood by the door leading back into the building, rubbing his arms slightly against the chill of the air from this high up. He took a confident step toward Rufus, his calm gaze focused entirely on Rufus.  He still looked a little concerned, though not frightened or horrified as Rufus might have expected. 

            "I came down to see you. We were going to talk again. Remember?"

            Numbly, Rufus nodded.

            "I knew you took classes with Tseng." Seph continued. "The Professor thinks it would be a good idea for me to do the same. Build up my strength. I really did want to talk to you about it." Seph looked around their surroundings and shivered slightly. "Could we go back inside?"

            "Don't do it Seph. Don't let them make you." Rufus instead warned in a empty voice he hardly recognized as his own. "You aren't a prisoner here like me. You could leave."

            Seph looked at his friend with a thoughtful expression for a moment. "Like you?" He repeated. "I think you are wrong. I think we are more alike than you know." Here he smiled slightly, "Though there /are/ slight differences." 

            "Such as?"

            Seph's luminous green eyes glittered slightly in amusement, "/I/ would probably have hit them both."

            Despite his earlier mood, Rufus found himself smiling slightly at that comment.  Especially the joke coming off the usually so serious and thoughtful boy.  A boy whose eyes looked far older and intelligent that his apparent nine years.

            "Come with me and talk." Seph insisted taking a hold of Rufus' arm and leading him back inside. "Perhaps we can ask Tseng if we can train together in future if I am to be taught as the Professor insists. Would you like to?" 

            "Very much." Rufus admitted.

*****

Rulf was having a problem.  

He really shouldn't have been. Between him and Marty they were carrying enough stuff to make their trip to Midgar more than worthwhile. And now they were finally leaving the wretched place.  All of this was very good news. 

Didn't mean he had to enjoy who was accompanying them. 

He could see Rufus now, upfront of the line walking scout, shotgun slung easily over one shoulder, walking easily, and whistling the Junon marching tune.  At least he looked at sounded happy. But as far as Rulf was concerned he was still a fucking lunatic that used to be in charge of a company that had managed to fuck the world over quite nicely. Personally Rulf would have just been as happy to leave the little shit to rot with a bullet in his head as look at him. But out of some stupid sense of honor that Marty had harped onto him about, he was now practically pledged to protect the loony tune, lie for him and travel with him. 

"He's not that bad." Marty insisted carrying on the conversation they'd been having quietly.

"Seems to be in high spirits today." Rulf commented grumpily.

Marty let out a long sigh, "Look, Vincent wants to keep him with us and he…"

Rulf waved his friend off impatiently. He'd heard this before countless times. Vincent had done a lot for them lately, and therefore automatically got their help in return.

"I know. He got all that information and stuff that'll keep us happy for a good long time. Don't get me wrong, that alone makes Vincent my new best friend. But did we have to return this favor by haulin' th' unbalanced President shit-ra round the world?"

Rulf half expected his friend to scowl at the comment, but Marty's face turned a little pensive. Rulf was a little surprised at this. Did Marty share his view on this?

"We owe him." Marty said instead. 

Rulf looked at his friend closely for a few seconds. "You think there's something more here  doncha?"

"Not exactly." He conceded. "Well, yeah I /do/ think there is something more behind Vincent's interests, but those aren't /my/ interests.  Though I am curious."

"You looking to cash in?" Rulf asked.

"No!" Marty exclaimed wounded. Then; "Though a little something might be nice."

Rulf though looked disgusted. He'd exhausted every reason he thought why Marty would want to keep company with the two odd men and was fearing he was narrowing in on the true reason for Marty's loyalty to the man they had just met.

"Tell me you talked me into this 'cause you were bored or curious and I kill you here and now. You won't have to wait for loose screws over there to flip again 'n kill us all. I'll do it soona."

"Rulf? What do you want to do with all that stuff we found?"

"What?" Rulf asked gruffly at the unexpected question.

"Do you want to sell it, hoard the money and be content to die under this obnoxious dust cloud so long as you have a full belly and a roof over your head?"

"Damn straight."

"Well I don't want to. I'd be happier to die, starving and alone in the middle of a field so long as I could feel the sun on my face and know that several other children sleep well tonight with full bellies and many more nights like that to come."

Rulf rolled his eyes and frowned, "So what? You gonna get offa this continent and go feed the hungry masses? Well, Mart I hate to tell you this, but /this/ continent is the one with the hungry masses. And ya sure as hell ain't gonna see sunlight here in your lifetime.  'Sides even if you want to cross the sea, you've heard the rumors about the border patrols on the sea.  They don't want their continents overrun by refugees. They'd torch your boat 'fore you even get close 'nuff to see the shoreline."

Marty shrugged. "I wasn't thinking of going to the West. The West doesn't need food or supplies.  How big do you think those food stores are?"

"Enough to feed a small company of troops." Vincent's voice responded. 

Startled, Marty and Rulf spun round to face the black cloaked man.

"I really wish you wouldn't do that man." Rulf grated through clenched teeth.  Vincent almost smiled

"Rufus!" He called up the line, "Sector Five gate."

Rufus, hearing the yell, turned and walked backwards long enough to give Vincent a sloppy salute, before turning back around and changing directions to suit. He still hadn't stopped whistling.

"You know," Marty began, "We're gonna have to think up a name for him soon. Someone hears us call out 'Rufus' in Kalm and we're in for a world of hurt."

Vincent nodded in agreement and the trio began walking again. 

"Spot." Rulf offered.

"You aren't helping." Marty responded with a smile. "We can't call the ex-President of Shinra, who used to be /the/ most powerful man in the world, 'Spot'."

Rulf nodded and pretended to think seriously for a moment. "Rachael."

Marty smacked the back of his head.

"Rex."

"No."

"Timmy."

"/No/."

"I've got it! Richard!"

Vincent showed his appreciation by nodding slightly. Marty didn't look so thrilled. "You just want to be able to call him 'Dick'." He pointed out.

"Yeah so. It's fitting. He's not Odin ya know, he's Rufus S. Shinra. He's a dick. Sides if one of us gets caught up and begins to say his real name, you can easily make the 'ru' sound like a 'ri'."

"The rationale of a surly man toting a gun. Fine, Richard it is." Marty grumbled. "Dare you to call him Dick to his face."

"Bet he's been called worse."

*

When they left the gates of Sector Five behind, Marty felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. A weight he hadn't even realized had been there. Somehow, he felt safer only a few paces out of Midgar than he had as a small child in his own bed.  A curious feeling, that kept getting lighter with each and every step away from the city.  At one point of coming down a small rise, Midgar itself could not even be seen. The relief, he knew that's what it had been now, flooded him almost making him stop and take a few deeps breaths. 

Almost.

Raising his eyes he realized that they could now see Kalm. That weighty feeling came back on him almost immediately.  He had wished that they had run into one of those storage things before returning to Kalm. But the closest one wasn't even really near Midgar, no need really. Not with home base that close. But right now it sucked. Essentially they would be returning empty handed. He could maybe give out a few materia orbs or gil they'd found, but it was food they were after now. Wealth /was/ having lots of food these days. That couldn't be true everywhere of course. Vincent had mentioned something briefly about Junon before where materia and gil would be valuable. But Kalm was another thing. Nowadays most people in Kalm dealt with food in the place of cash.

He knew he wasn't the only one who felt the pressure either. The usually steadfast Rulf looked like he was going to grind his teeth down to the gums. Even Vincent looked a little tense. The only one that seemed uncaring was Rufus. All he did was wander along at his own pace, staring up at the sky with a slightly bemused look, muttering to himself occasionally.  Eventually Rulf got tired of the mutterings and barked out; "What th' /fuck/ are you starin' at! Ain't you never seen th' sky before?"

Rufus looked back toward Rulf and grinned at him. It was the insane Rufus grin they had all come to know,  but at least now it was touched with a bit of humor. "The sky. It's hazy."

"Of course it's hazy. It's th' friggin' dust cloud!"

"Rulf," Marty began warningly.

"I still don't see what's so amusin' 'bout it." Rulf shot back.

"Looks like the sky over Midgar. Everywhere looks like Midgar. " Rufus told them as if it were the obvious answer.

"Looks like the sky ova everywhere." Rulf grumbled.

Vincent though was giving Rufus an interested look as if the man had just said something amazingly insightful. Marty had to wonder at this. 

"Really? I didn't know it was everywhere."

"How could you not see?" Marty interrupted in a curious tone. "You only had to look up to see the dust cloud."

Rufus merely shrugged and turned his head back up to the clouds. "Never looked any different to me."

"That's because you're a friggin' fruit loop." Rulf muttered under his breath.

"That's because Midgar has always been covered in smog." Vincent told them after hearing Rulf. "The only difference is that now the cloud is thicker and even less sunlight gets through. The sky over Midgar actually doesn't look that much different."

"And this is the first time Rufus has been out of Midgar after Meteor came." Marty finished in realization.

Rufus lowered his eyes again and raised his voice enough for them to hear. "Someone should really do something about it though."

The idea was so simplistic yet so impossible that Rulf rolled his eyes. "You can take the spoilt rich guy out of the insanity…"

"I would think that if something could be done, it would be." Marty answered in a slightly more diplomatic tone.

***

            Kalm was…exactly how they'd left it. In other words, Kalm was dying. In a city that used to thrive on it's stores, Inns and a few outlying farms, it's decline had been rapid. The town used to lie on a well used trading route being this close to Midgar. With the city's destruction and the shoreline patrols guarding crossings oversea, Kalm had begun to deteriorate. Some buildings made of wood had been partially torn down to be burned for heat. Hardly any sun and no power made for very cold nights in late Autumn.  The rest of the wood had gone into making a crude kind of wall surrounding the town. It had become necessary to defend the city after a few raids by bandits earlier in the season. Gaunt looking men patrolled the walls with an array of weaponry ranging from guns to crudely made spears. 

            The men on the walls eyed them warily as Marty led the party towards the gates. He made sure to keep his hands well away from all his weapons.  The gates opened enough for on lone man to come through, then quickly shut behind him. The lone man, middle-aged with fast graying hair ambled up to Marty, sun-wizened skin creased into a frown on his forehead.

            "Didn't expect to see you back Mart."

            Marty blinked at the man in surprise and shared a confused look with Rulf who had come up to join them. "Why not?" He asked. "We can't have been gone for more than a week." Marty eyed the men on the walls and did a quick tally in his head. "More guards? Has there been some trouble Del?"

            He couldn't be sure, but Del seemed to staring at his eyes a little too intensely.  "More raiders.  From Midgar this time. We've had to be careful."

            "From Midgar?" Marty asked in surprise. There were no people from Midgar anymore. Midgar was a dead city, he had seen that for himself. "Are you sure?"

            "Sure I'm sure." Del answered. "Our own no less. Came back from the city less than a week ago. Let 'em straight into the city. Killed and kidnapped ten people before we chased 'em away. Rorely, Mark, and Timalle. Filthy Garens now." Del spit on the ground in disgust.

            Marty had known those three men. They had lived in Kalm all their lives. They had left to scavenge in Midgar together quite a while before Marty and Rulf had even thought about it. He doubted he'd have expected any one of them capable of what Del told him. Garens? That was what the people of Kalm used to call the Midgar citizens.  The shock must have been evident on his face.

            "They'd been changed." Del told him in quiet tones. "They weren't themselves. But they were at the same time."

            "Poisoned. By the mako." Came a comment from behind Marty. He wished Rufus had the sense enough to keep quiet. It would be hard enough getting strangers into the city when he and Rulf were trusted. It would be doubly hard now that it seemed anyone coming from Midgar was someone to be wary of.

            Del turned his eyes toward Rufus and gave the man an appraising look. Thankfully Rufus had his head down and seemed to be studying the dirt by his feet.  

            "We expect so." Del answered in a louder tone. "Everybody coming back from Midgar has to be checked out. We think we can spot poisoning now. Strangers are to be turned away."

            Marty wondered if he looked as surprised as Rulf. "We can vouch for them." Marty said quickly gesturing to the two men behind him. "They helped us in the city."

            "They're the rules Mart. No strangers. You two will have to relinquish your weapons before you're checked out." 

            Behind Del the gates opened once again and several armed men came out to form a rough semi-circle behind Del.

            "No wait Del, listen. I swear on my life, these men can be trusted." Gods he hoped he was right. Was he insane vouching for them. Vincent, perhaps he could trust. But Rufus? 

            Del watched Marty intently for a while before nodding to himself. "Law is law Mart. I'm sorry." He really did sound sorry.

            The men behind Del began to come forward. Either to take Marty and Rulf weapons or to drive Vincent and Rufus off. He wasn't sure.

            "What if I told you it'd be in the best interests of everyone in Kalm to let them in?" Marty said hurriedly. He could almost feel Vincent's cautioning look boring into his back, but he tried to ignore it.

            Del held up a hand to stop the approaching men. "What do you mean?"

            Drawing Del off to the side, Marty told him in quiet tones all they had learned in Midgar. About the hidden supply caches anyway.  He kept everything about Rufus carefully hidden. He painted Rufus to just be Vincent's friend and made it seem as though he'd been there when the first monster attacked them in the alleyway. After a while Del nodded to himself once more and went back to stand in front of the guards. 

            "They pass the test, they'll be let through." He announced. "And it will be your life Marty if they betray us."

            Marty nodded. He wished he hadn't looked so reluctant doing so. "What's this test?"

            "Simple." Del answered. "Garen's eyes glow with the effects of the mako. Relinquish your weapons."

            Marty did so slowly and what he hoped to be calmly. Glowing eyes? Well he was sure he and Rulf's eyes would turn out fine, but he began to freak out about the other two. Vincent's eyes didn't glow. But they weren't exactly normal. And what about Rufus? 

            He threw his gun down on the ground next to Rulf's and began to unbuckle his sword belt and knife belt from around his waist. He turned slightly to watch Vincent and Rufus disarm. A couple of the guards came over to pick up their weapons. A couple more for Vincent's and Rufus'. Rufus lay his shotgun down with little hesitation. Vincent threw his own nasty looking gun on top of that from the holster under his cape. But to Marty's surprise he didn't seem to be finished there. A kinfe from his boot. Another gun, a smaller handgun from the back of his belt.  A shotgun from a holster on his other side.  And it kept going till there was maybe five different weapons, mostly guns, lying at Vincent's feet. Beside him Rufus chuckled slightly at the bewildered look on  Del's face and the cautious looks of the guards who bent to pick them all up. Marty felt like groaning. This was not a good first impression.

            Marty watched again closely as one of the guards roughly grabbed Vincent's chin and forced his head up. Vincent didn't resist the treatment thankfully. The guard let go of him with a startled gasp.

            "What is it? Do they glow?" Del demanded from his position of examining Rulf. He had apparently already checked Marty's as they had talked.

            "N-no," They guard stammered. "T-they're like blood."

            Del left Rulf to come and inspect these 'blood' eyes for himself. If Del was shocked, he hid it well with only a slight widening of his own eyes. "Gods. They /are/ like blood."

            "But they don't glow." Vincent pointed out helpfully.

            "That they don't." Del agreed. At least he didn't think it was a side effect of poisoning. "What happened to you man?"

            Vincent gauged the crowd for a moment before responding. "The Shinra." He answered simply. 

            Marty realized that the truth would work best here than a lie. There was definitely no love for the ex-conglomerate here in Kalm. If anything it seemed to earn him some sympathy. As paranoid as the townspeople had become, they bought his answer easily enough.

            "Filthy Garens." Del repeated spitting again. "Pigfuckers."

            Marty kept a sharp eye on Rufus for any reaction but Rufus kept himself under control, tensing only slightly. From the look on his face, he might have even agreed.

            Del moved on to inspect Rufus himself. He forced the man's head up to look at his eyes and Marty found himself holding his breath. It didn't take long for a reaction. With a startled noise, Del pushed Rufus back with enough force to send him onto his back in the dirt. He snatched a spear off one of the guards and made to lunge toward the fallen man.

            "Del, no!"

            Marty was too far away to do anything but he tried to get close enough. Vincent was closer though and quickly put himself between Rufus and Del giving the latter a level gaze. 

            "He's one of 'em!" Del shouted. "Move out of the way!"

            "He won't harm anyone." Vincent replied smoothly. 

            The pause gave Marty enough time to catch up and put a restraining hand on Del's arm. Del just shook him off.

            "The Shinra." Vincent repeated. 

            "They did that to him?" Del asked still tensed for a fight. "Chocobo shit. He's been poisoned."

            When Vincent didn't respond, Marty picked up the lead. "They did this to him. Treated with mako. Not poisoned." He felt like shit for lying. For all he knew Rufus could just be as bad as those men that had slaughtered all those people a week ago. He had also noticed that what Vincent had said hadn't exactly been a lie either. Marty had been the one to outright lie. Doubtless  the company was to blame for Rufus' state and Vincent would see it as that. 

            "Soldiers carry swords." Del said. But he did relax a little. Apparently after passing off Vincent's explanation, he was also not so hasty to pass off Rufus' either.

            "Heavy bloody things." Rufus said slowly getting back onto his feet and making a show of brushing off his filthy pants and jacket like they were still in mint condition and Del had just dirtied them. "Better to have a gun at your side in a fight." Rufus, like Vincent had chosen his words well. Del's own gun hung off his belt in it's holster. Anyone could see it was well cared for and not simply a weapon.

            "You're from Soldier then?" Del asked backing down slightly. "Loyal were you?"

            "To my death." Rufus answered with a slow smile.

            Marty was almost tempted to deck the smiling man had he not been so sure Rufus could have snapped both his arms if he tried.

            "Yeah well, we don't accept no Shinra scum here either." Del told him.

            "He obviously doesn't  work for Shinra anymore." Marty cut in. "You'll deny a man a place to rest safely because of someone that used to pay his wages? If I remember correctly Del, you weren't so adverse to the Shinra when they were around either."

            Del had the decency to look a little embarrassed at least. "Fine! Bring him," he said rounding on Marty. "But it's your head if he causes any trouble you hear me!"

            With that Del and the others began stalking back toward the open gates. Marty and the others followed a little more slowly. He shot Rufus an unimpressed look which was received with the insane Rufus grin and a shrug.

            _Well at least he wasn't recognized._

_***_

_            Notes: Well, I know this took me some time. But I feel like I'm creating a new little dark world here. So we have some new things coming up here. The appearance of the Garens which I'll talk more about next chapter, and Kalm's new look. *giggles* I wonder what the other cities will be like. And yes folks, we have more actual plot! Knew I'd get there eventually. Is it just me or does this seem like a bigger chapter than the norm? I got through so much stuff. I don't usually ask, but please review. I would like to know if people are enjoying this._

_            See ya next chapter_

_            AF_

_anime_fearie@excite.com_

_All my stories can be found on the 70th Floor at Neo Midgar_

_http://www.geocities.com/anime_fearie/_

_Come to the dark side. Mwahahahahahahaha_


	5. The Garen's Trail

Do What You Will

By AF

Chapter 5 

_By AF, Sa Makain & Ace._

The Garens' Trail.

            "You sure you reckon it was the Garens that did this?" Marty asked to probably anyone that would answer.

            Marty cast his eyes around the ranch, or rather what was left of the ranch. The house was now a burnt out husk along with the barn. The fence that used to run around the enclosure for chocobos was still standing in some places, though not many. And where the fence /did/ still stand was smeared with an all too familiar color. He hated to think it, but he hoped that was chocobo blood. The alternative was by far worse. Especially upon seeing the burnt out bonfire circle in the middle of the field where Rufus had informed them he had seen bones in the piles of charcoal and half burnt wood.  Rufus was crouching down by the remnants of the bonfire still, staring the blackened wood as if he could still see the flames. The bonfire of course had been cold for almost a week, as had the rest of the farm. And of course, no survivors had been found.

            "No, I reckon this was a group of Alexander's followas come to convert the ranchers to the ways of Holy light ya moron." Rulf replied testily.

            Vincent himself took one more look around the ranch and shouldered his bag. "Time to move." He told Marty and Rulf.  

            Marty and Rulf were all too happy to comply, shouldering their own packs and waiting expectantly to start off again moving south.

            "Rufus. Let's go." Vincent called to the fourth man in the middle of the field. Rufus rose fluidly and picked up his pack, but it seemed to take him longer to tear his eyes away from the blackened spot in front of him than absolutely necessary. 

            It still took Marty a while to associate their traveling companion with his name, and was getting far more easier to fall into the habit of calling him by his made up name. While he had never questioned that this was Rufus Shinra, he had never met the man himself, and it was always hard for a person to associate an actual person with what was only before a name. _Much like if I ever actually met Hades one day, he thought wryly. He hadn't really thought of it at all since meeting Rufus. He understood who the man was, but he never really took it in.  He'd only realized this after Rufus had been made to /really/ take on his 'Richard' persona. At Vincent's insistence he'd gotten new clothes and even a knew weapon.  The clothes really had belonged to Del's son, a mercenary by trade who had died some three years previous at Fort Condor. Brown leather jerkin over a dirty blue shirt and loose dark brown cloth pants tucked into his high soft leather boots. A blue cloak covered the  large holster by his hip where he still kept his shotgun handy, but not the large sword strapped down over it on his back. The large sword still didn't look much like the Shinra issued Solider Buster Sword, but it was impressive never-the-less. Rulf had after all been a rare weapons dealer in Kalm and had managed to dig up a Apocalypse style sword in almost new condition.  Marty had to admit though, as impressive as the sword looked, it did nothing to make Rufus blend in being red blade and all._

            All this did wonders to mask Rufus' true look to the point of being almost totally unrecognizable for who he was. And even though Marty suspected that the man still carried his old clothes in his pack, he took Vincent's advise and never complained once even volunteering the knowledge that he did know enough swordsmanship to pass well enough if needed. But the most drastic change had been something Rufus had done of his own volition. They had all woken the next morning in Kalm to see Rufus walk in through the front door to Rulf shop sit down crossed legged on the counter and begin sharpening his new sword, his new jet black hair brushed free of grime and tangles and held neatly, out of his intense blue eyes, behind his head with a leather cord into an inch long loose ponytail.

            Why Rufus had paid some of the village girls (Marty was still trying to work how out exactly Rufus /had/ paid them having little or no money) to dye his hair that unusual shade of blue/very black hair still wasn't entirely clear. He didn't need to, he was unrecognizable enough without the Rufus style clothes and the light facial scars. It had just seemed as though if Rufus was going to change himself a little, he was going to totally change.  Perhaps Rufus had been as eager for the change as they had. Still, the hair did a lot.  Rufus Shinra, always well dressed in an impeccable white tailored suit, blond haired, blue eyed, well groomed shotgun user had now become black haired, glowing eyed, scarred ex-Soldier turned mercenary, Richard Saiphe. (A last name of Rufus' own design)  And that is who Rufus had become. Even less like the man with the fearsome name and more like the guy they had simply picked up in Midgar. If anybody who didn't know Rufus personally, recognized him, Marty was willing to eat his own shoelaces. 

            Marty watched black-haired 'Rich' easily vault over the small fence and fall into step with Vincent sparing a wink and Rufus grin for Marty and Rulf before focusing his whole attention onto the land in front of him.

            He'd eat Rulf's as well for that matter.

Marty and Rulf trooped off after the two dark haired men a little less enthusiastically while trying not to get a last look at the ranch as they left.

Since leaving Kalm early this morning, they had run across  little more than five small farms, mostly belonging to Kalm. Four had been abandoned for quite some time. The fifth looked much like the ranch. Again they had found no survivors. But no bodies either. Just the blood smeared wherever something had not been burnt. And they hadn't been accidental spatter patterns either. Someone had smeared the blood there intentionally to tell by the smudged hand prints.

Vincent had faced it all as if he had expected it.

Marty with clear revulsion that bordered on losing the contents of his stomach.

Rulf with a clenched jaw, white face, and many muttered oaths.

Rufus had…well Rufus had looked as though he were studying it.  Not like he had liked seeing it, Marty was sure. More like he was wondering what had happened to these men to make them do these things. He had certainly voiced the question afterwards. Most of them had a fair idea what had made those men go insane and slaughter these people, but none wanted to volunteer the information to Rufus. That they had all been poisoned in Midgar. Rufus didn't press for an answer .  He'd probably come up with his own by then anyway.  If it was the same answer Marty had thought of, it sure didn't seem to bother Rufus any. Marty would have admired the other man for it had it not occurred to Marty later that the reason it probably didn't bother Rufus was that the man was most probably quite insane himself.

One thing was for sure; They hadn't quite expected all this after planning out their strategy in Midgar. The simple task of going to Kalm, then onto Junon via two of the storage bunkers, one at the Mythril Mines, the second at Fort Condor, had turned into, follow the bloody trail of the mako poisoned psychopaths.  He didn't know whether to hope the trail would lead all the way to Junon or not. To Junon meant they were heading to a well populated area. Not meant that Marty and his companions might meet up with them well before that.  Neither were very palatable notions. Only one real thing was for sure. If they had come this far from Kalm, they were most certainly heading toward the Mines.

**********

Marty was glad to finally be able to set foot into the cool interior of the cavern. Not that it was warm outside. It was hardly ever warm on this continent anymore. There was no weather to speak of. It never rained, the sun never shone and it never snowed. The sky never ever shifted with wind, but the wind was always there. Neither cold nor warm, just subtle or howling. But Marty wasn't trying to get away from the wind either. Marty was just glad to be out of the swamp. The large snakes of the swamps to be exact. And not just because of the fearsome snakes themselves. It was that, coupled with the eagerness of Rufus' to fight one that had Marty thankful to be away from there. 

Stopping at the swamp's edge, the group had surveyed the area before heading in, watchful of the Zoloms. Rufus though, had stood there at the edge for precisely two minutes before shrugging and saying;  "I've always wondered if I was good enough to fight one of those like Sephiroth did." Before stepping onto the marshy land and unslinging his sword. Sephiroth had of course spit one of the huge creatures on a dead tree the last time he had wandered through the swamp so the rumors went and Marty wasn't entirely convinced that that wasn't what Rufus had had in mind at the time. 

Mindful of Rufus' moods, Vincent had managed to catch up to the foolhardy man and convince him not to actively seek death out. They had really only had one run in and yet another show of the mighty Vincent beast and had come out of the battle intact and relatively unharmed. Though Rulf was still rubbing his sore ass after being tossed away once from the battle and landing on it some fifty feet away. Rufus had stopped to watch the Chaos Beast only momentarily before grinning widely and slashing at the snake with the nasty looking blade of his.

But now in the mines, they were safe from giant snakes and the bloodlust to kill said giant snakes. It was also the first stop to see one of the supply bunkers. 

"Damn snake," Rulf grumbled rubbing his ass and limping into the cavern past Marty.

"I told you to duck," Marty pointed out.

"Oh yeah? An' how did you expect me to duck that huge flamin' snake Mart? Drop to th' ground an' hope he didn't squish me?"

"Might've worked."

Rufus came in next, wandering in and taking a look around his surroundings with open curiosity. He nimbly leapt up onto a rock further in, in order to reach the cavern's ceiling with his fingertips. "It's moist."

"So?" Rulf asked more than a little aggravated. Rufus did tend to say some of the most inane things sometimes out of nowhere. Usually Rulf simply ignored him, but he was surly and probably welcomed the chance to snap at something. 

Vincent was the last in. He stopped by Marty silently and watched Rufus balance on the rock. "Clean water." Vincent supplied.

Of course, moisture in the rock might mean an underground spring. That was a good thing. Clean water was getting hard to find out on the plains these days. Still, "Limestone in the water will make you sick. Let's hope it's clean." Of course there weren't many ways of testing that except to taste it. 

Rufus jumped down and started wandering through the cavern, tracing the line of moisture of the ceiling while the others took a much needed rest. Rufus never seemed to need rest as if the mako in his blood kept him energetic and alert even after hard traveling and an even harder fight. 

"Where to?" Rulf asked Marty as he gingerly sat down on the rock Rufus had just vacated. 

Marty dug the map to the mines bunker out of his pack and looked it over carefully. "We take the normal path that would lead us through the mines, but when we get to a certain room we have to turn off it. The room is marked by a natural bridge that has collapsed. You can jump the distance easily though. And instead of climbing up to the exit, there is a doorway hidden behind some jutting rock and vines."

As it turned out, Vincent knew the way well enough. Though Marty had been to Junon once or twice and Rulf had been there numerous times for his work, most of the time you were able to go via one of the numerous coast huggers that visited the harbor in Kalm for supplies. The way certainly took longer but it was far safer than trekking over the swamps and through the abandoned mines. So really their only guides here were an old Shinra map, Vincent and some vague memory of Rulf's from way back when.  As it turned out, Vincent was the more reliable. While the map was all good and well, it talked of landmarks as if you already knew where you were going. So Marty ended up convincing Vincent to stay with them while they found the bunker and read off the map for them. Vincent didn't seem to mind the hold-up in his own journey in the least.

Rufus trailed along as rear guard, eyes wide with apparent wonder of the cave systems.  Marty didn't seem to see what was so awe-inspiring about them. The Mythril supplies had long since run out and all that was left was an odd gray-blue rock with the occasional cave moss and vine struggling for survival in a dark world with little free flowing water. But then, Rufus had probably seen very few caves. In fact Marty would have laid bets that this was the first time the ex-President had been out of a city for such a large amount of time. The change in lifestyle should have had the man complaining about sore feet and tiredness, but his days in Midgar after Meteor had probably given him enough time to cope without luxuries. In fact, Rufus looked more like a little boy going on his first big adventure than the bent psychopath that Marty had come to know. 

Finally they entered the room described on the map.  The walls reached upwards into darkness, the shadows hiding the ceiling with only the small vents that let in light showing through. The bridge was there, broken but easily jumpable, the room was fairly wide with the ragged sides showing that it was here where some of the heaviest mining had been taken place. Broken stalagmites littered the floor and small cracks and openings lined the walls. 

Rulf went ahead and sat down for a much-needed rest while Vincent and Marty went over to investigate the rock outcrop. Rufus lingered by the entryway, peering back into the darkness from where they had just come from. Vincent stopped and watched him for a while before turning back to Marty and shaking his head. He obviously didn't know what Rufus was doing either.

The opening, once they had located it was very narrow. Marty had to hold his breath and squeeze through as it was. Once through the initial crack, It opened out into a larger space. A very dark space. Marty couldn't see his hand in front of his face. Turning back, he saw Vincent slipping in through the crack after him, his dark form silhouetted by the dim light of the caves behind him. 

"We need a torch." Marty told him.

The rest of the caves had been dimly lit by small vents filtering in sunlight from above. Here there were no vents. 

The Vincent shadow nodded, shifted a little, then Marty heard a hiss and the chamber was suddenly lit with an intense green glow. Vincent had struck a flare from the bag he carried. Marty hadn't even known Vincent had them. At least one of them was properly prepared. 

Holding the flare up, Vincent's face was bathed in a sickly green glow. He nodded toward the back of the cavern.  What they were in appeared to be an entryway. After about fifteen feet, the narrow space dead-ended. In the glow from the flare, Marty could see the green light glinting of something rectangular and tall. A door. Marty, who was furthest into the cavern moved forward to inspect the metallic door. The flare's glow followed closely behind him. The door itself was unremarkable except for the fact that there even _was _a door here. Next to it, set into the rock wall was a keypad. The console looked dead. 

"Tell me these things don't run off mako power." 

Vincent  didn't answer, merely reached past Marty and jabbed a button on the keypad. After a faint whirring sound, the pad lit up. 

"Generator." Vincent answered.

"Tell me you knew that before we came here."

Vincent gave him what could've passed for a thin but amused smile before handing the flare to Marty and turning around to get the others. Marty didn't bother saying anything back. Verbal jabs were lost on the uncaring. 

Entering the memorized code, Marty held his breath until he heard the distinct clicking sound of the door unlocking.  

The (what he could see by the light of the flare) interior was enormous. The cavern was circular in shape with a high ceiling that stretched away into shadows. Shelves ran the full circle of the room and almost  to the ceiling. Two sections. The lower portions could be reached on ground level. The higher reached by two ladders on either side of the room that led up to a catwalk.

"Oh my." Marty murmured. He hadn't quite expected something so vast. Details were still a little too dim to make out though.

Vincent came in through the door beside him and looked around. When his eyes lit upon the shelves his head jerked to a stop in its slow circle. From somewhere behind them he could hear Rulf's muttered curses about it being so dark. He was about to ask Vincent if he could make out a light switch or something when Vincent's hand darted out toward the wall and something clicked. The room flooded with light. It was then that Marty could see just what Vincent's keener vision had picked out earlier and alarmed the ex-Turk.

"You're fuckin' kiddin' me," Rulf muttered as he came into the room behind Marty.

"It's empty, there's nothing here!" Marty said distraught. "And what is here's been trashed!"

Vincent set his jaw and resumed his scan of the room. Marty trailed along numbly behind Vincent allowing the others behind him to come fully into the room and take in the sight for themselves. He could have sworn that Rufus almost sniggered when he saw it for himself.

"What the hell is your problem?" Marty asked Rufus sharply. Marty rarely lost his temper, but this was too much. They had traveled all this way for nothing. After all if raiders had gotten into this one, there was a fairly good chance that the other caches were similarly afflicted. And Marty was angry. Livid. This had been there big chance. Not to mention the possible last chance for the people of Kalm. And here Rufus was, sniggering. And he hadn't stopped at Marty's outburst either.

"I was wondering what would stay in this place." Rufus answered shaking his head ruefully.

Marty was about to take a menacing step toward the infuriating mad man but as he turned, a cold claw fell on Marty's shoulder holding him where he was. Vincent was staring intensely at Rufus. 

"Rufus…" Vincent began in question, but Rufus merely held up a hand for silence. A moment in complete silence brought a sound to all their ears. A padding sound like hundreds of bare feet slapping against the stone. Vincent only took a moment. 

"Get to the catwalk." He said in an urgent tone. 

It was all the prompting that Rulf and Marty needed. Making a bolt for the ladder they where scrambling up when they heard Vincent imploring Rufus to follow them. Rufus turned and stared at Vincent and after a moment offered a lopsided grin and ran to the other ladder. Vincent himself made it up just as the first creature entered the room. 

It was vaguely human like with large yellow eyes the size of small plates that took up the majority of the creature's head. Its body was a black blue color covered with warts and bumps. Green spots, which glowed slightly, covered its entire body in different sizes. It arms where thin, just like its legs, but both ended in a sick parody of human hands. Long fingers tipped with black claws at least four inches long, scraped sparks across the stone floor as the creature walked in and looked around the room. Its eyes strayed upwards and while the others ducked for cover, Rufus stood in the middle of the catwalk grinning at the creature. It tilted its head to the side as if in consideration. Vincent reached up to drag Rufus back down into cover and the creature's apparently small mouth dropped down half way down its chest to show three rows of needle teeth and issued a chilling hiss.

It was at this point that Marty started mentally beating himself. He had been so outraged at the state of their find that Rufus' little riddles had gone right over his head. No matter what the ex-President had seen since leaving Midgar, the only thing he had not done was laugh at the misfortune of those around him. True what humor he did possess was of the dark variety, Marty still should have known better. Rufus hadn't been sniggering at the group's bad luck, he had been happy because he had solved a puzzle that seemed to have been distracting him from the first step into the cave systems. All Rufus had been wondering was why these monsters had been trailing them. Why they were here. He had found his answer in the empty room. The monsters had eaten all the stores and trashed the useless equipment. At least he understood now. Marty didn't even want to know how Rufus had even known about them in the first place. But, looking at the monsters filing into the room, he was still pissed with Rufus. He could have warned them. 

As a whole, the whole group started to unholster weapons and make ready for the attack. After loading his shotgun and handing the weapon to Rulf to use as a spare he unsheathed his sword and dagger ready in case any got through the projectile defenses. Rufus hadn't touched his own sword yet. He had his shotgun out and resting casually over his right shoulder. Vincent already had his most impressive weapon out and ready. At least his most impressive bar Chaos. Marty realized that he wouldn't actually mind it if he saw that beast right now. Well, looking at those monsters, he figured he'd probably get that chance.

The monster in the lead darted forward and in one leap was on the ladder leading up to the catwalk. Rulf saw Vincent level his gun at it and with a muzzle flash the thing's head exploded in a shower of wet black mush. In that moment, howling came from the entrance way from the five or so other creatures that had come in behind the first. Rulf lowered his shotgun at the next one running through the gap and fired. The shot was a little off, but the blast hit it with enough force to throw it back. It didn't get up. Another two appeared and Rulf cocked again, firing. From the corner of his eye  Marty saw Vincent's motion to him to drag up the ladder on his side. Vincent then dragged the ladder up on his. Rulf pumped his gun once more and fired the last of his shells killing another.

Rulf was thumbing the rounds back into his shotgun when they noticed something strange. A hissing and howling had been coming from the monsters since they first entered the cavern but now they fell silent. They pushed to the edges of the room, under the catwalk where it was impossible for the guys to shoot them.  A rumbling started, in the very bowels of the earth, and it seemed to be making its way towards them

"What is that?" Marty asked to no one in particular.

"Somethin' too fuckin' big Mart, that's what it is," Rulf replied.

Slowly the rumbling grew louder and Rufus looked up with some interest. Rulf finished with his gun.  They heard the creatures below them start to move as the rumbling grew to an insane pitch. They heard a cracking all about them.

"Not only are we about to be slaughtered but we have to put up with that as well?!" Rulf shouted over the noise.

Whatever had distracted the creatures before seemed out of effect now.  With what looked to be an amazing feat of strength, one of the monsters made a jump upwards, clinging onto the underside of the catwalk between Rufus and Rulf. Rulf made ready to fire at it, but Marty grabbed a hold of his arm, fearing what the blast might do to the integrity of the old catwalk.  Instead the two groups began to back away from it, waiting for it to come within a better range. It didn't take long for the thing to clamber its way up onto the catwalk. Rulf found himself looking directly into the eyes of one of the creatures just as it took a swipe at him, he fell back out of it reach and bumped into Marty. Leveling his shotgun he claimed its head in the blast. The force pushing Marty and him further along the wall. Marty swiped at a creature that vaulted over the railing and connected with its sickeningly soft flesh. The sword cut threw it so easily that Rulf briefly glimpsed a look of surprise cross Marty's face as mortally wounded, the creature fell backwards onto the floor. To his right another creature jumped at Marty, with no time to recover he received a vicious wound on his leg, he yelled in pain before Rulf managed to do away with the creature.

When Rulf had the time to look he saw Vincent and Rufus where dealing only a little better. Another creature pulled itself up over the rail behind Vincent. It was met with back kick from Vincent, the bronze plated boot almost pushing the things jaw out the backside of its head.

Rufus had drawn his sword but every time he moved to engage a monster it backed off away from him as if unwilling to attack the ex-president.  Instead, it sought to get around behind Rufus to attack Vincent from the rear.  Since the creature could not get around him at any rate, Rufus merely shot the beast and shrugged it off. He was met with another soon after. This creature also did not engage him. Instead it hooked around Rufus using the railing and its own momentum. The creature's whole weight dropped onto the unsuspecting Vincent's back pushing both down onto the metal grating. Vincent's gun left his hand and spun across, then off the side of the catwalk. Rufus, with all apparent casualness, poked the rear end of the beast with his sword. The thing disregarded him completely. So this time, he kicked it. The thing clambered off Vincent to the other side and hissed at them both. After helping the fallen man to his feet, Rufus turned his sword point down and regarded it. Vincent just stood silently behind Rufus and watched. But when he went to draw another weapon, the thing hissed once more and advanced a few steps. Rufus aimed a halfhearted kick at its head and it once again backed off. One dark eyebrow rose in Rufus' direction to which he shrugged, readjusted his grip on his sword, pivoted and took the thing's head clear off. Now dead, Rufus nudged the rest of the body over the side with his boot. 

"Well, that was interesting."

Only three more creatures remained, they where all on the lower floor and were easily taken care of by Vincent and Rulf. The cracking could now be seen as well as heard and the small entrance started to crumble along its outline. 

Through it all something was bugging Marty. He pushed himself back onto his unsteady feet, grit his teeth through the pain on his injured leg and tried to sort through things. 

"That door was locked. How do they get in here?"

"Why don't you friggin' ask 'em Mart?" 

The rock face exploded just as Rulf started to rise to get a better look. They dropped for cover as debris flew around the room. An almighty roar accompanied it,  the sound almost enough to bust the eardrums of those inside the room. By the time Rulf looked up, Rufus and Vincent where already on the move. It took some time for Rulf to take in the creature in front of him. Once he did, an unconscious, "fuck me," escaped his lips.

The creature was much like the smaller ones they had been fighting but larger, much larger. It stood a good fifteen foot high and had the same general appearance of the lesser creatures. The only differences appeared to be the bulk of the creature, the horns protruding from its shoulders and head, and the third eye staring out of the middle of its forehead. Rulf turned and fired along with Vincent without thinking. 

Rufus did something odd in that moment. He smiled. Vincent could almost read what that smile meant. 

"No."

Rufus didn't listen. Sword, back in its sheath on his back, Rufus vaulted the railing.

Seeing Rufus do this, Marty almost closed his eyes thinking that Rufus was likely to break a leg jumping down like that. But he didn't. He hit the ground in a crouch and rolled back up an onto his feet, drawing his sword out with the same movement. Vincent had jumped off the platform as well and was taking cover behind a large boulder which had dislodged itself from the wall with the creature's entrance. His shots where having the same effect as Rulf's. Little to none. Lowering his gun Vincent growled at the creature and retreated to the shadows as a red light started to twinkle in the space. Another view of the mighty Vincent Beast was in the offering, Rulf thought. But even as he fried his shotgun at the creature's head again he heard a battle cry that he had heard only once before in the crumbling building under Midgar.

Rufus his now black hair flaring wildly behind him, his sword raised above his head, swung at the thing's kneecap. The sword slashed right through the thing's hide and Rufus was covered in a wash of black liquid. The creature stumbled back with a howl, one of its arms lashed out and struck the wall where Vincent was transforming knocking the ex-Turk clear over the other side of the room where he hit the wall hard and collapsed to the ground, his transformation interrupted. 

The creature then turned its attention back to Rufus and took another step backward. Rufus took a step forward to follow it. The creature made a confused sound as Rufus looked at it with his head tilted to one side a mad grin across his face. Another slash and another long wound on the creatures stomach erupted. It fell back against the wall its injured legs failing. One of them caught Rufus in the chest and flung him against the wall. From their position Rulf could tell the action was of accident more than an attack. Looking at his friend Rulf realized their position. Both Vincent and Rufus had been taken out, they had lost their two best fighters and were now faced with a monster driven mad by pain. 

When they looked back they saw the creature raise a hand and bring it down on the catwalk, the old steel buckling under the force. Rulf felt the floor drop away from him. Marty, further away towards the right from the impact point had time to jump and landed with a roll, Rulf heard Marty gasp as he hit the ground. The catwalk buried Vincent and only missed crushing Rufus by a few inches.

Rulf looked up from his position on the ground and rolled to his left just as the creature's foot came down to crush him. Aiming up close with his shotgun he let a blast into the thing's foot. It howled and drew the foot back, a large chunk of it flesh missing and bone showing through. It brought it down again, burying the weapons dealer from Marty's view.

"RULF!" Marty screamed and in a fury charge at the beast raised his sword above his head. It howled in pain as Marty, after a running charge slammed his sword up to the hilt into its thigh. One hand came down and made an attempt to bat Marty away but it missed as Marty took three steps back to avoid being crushed. The creature then dropped its other hand and roared at Marty. His fury forgotten, Marty suddenly felt very small and insignificant under the creature's shadow.  Marty heard a clattering of metal behind him but paid little attention to it, looking up the creature's claw descended in slow motion, Marty was frozen unable to move. He didn't close his eyes though, and at least the end would be swift.

A red-black blur flashed through his vision, a cry of effort and a sickening cutting sound echoed through the chamber. Marty came to his senses just as the creature's severed arm fell beside him. Looking in front of him Marty saw Vincent, cape torn and bloody, his black shirt ripped and his pale chest showing through covered in bleeding cuts and wounds. In his clawed hand he held Rufus' sword.

"Get the shotgun," Vincent said in the same tone he used for everything and motioned toward Rufus.

Marty's mouth agape he nodded, turned and made a shaky jog for the fallen Rufus, he scrambled the last three feet on his hands and knees, looking back over his shoulder. Vincent held the sword ungainly, unused to handling such a weapon. The creature was in a rage and the walls shook as it thrashed around slamming itself into them. With its good hand it swept down at Vincent who dived to the side, falling into a roll. Once he rose he slammed the red blade into the thing's stomach, angling the blade upwards. The creature's legs buckled just as Marty's hand closed over the handle of Rufus' shotgun. He went to stand with the weapon and a cold hand gripped his. Turning in shock he saw Rufus awake and staring at him with a cold menace. Marty froze and a feeling of danger rose up his spine.

"I have to help Vincent," he said weakly looking into the cold glowing blue eyes.

Rufus chuckled and his head fell back onto the cold stone and he released the shocked Marty's wrist. By the time Marty turned back to the fight the creature was on its knees. It had dragged the blade out of itself and hurled it at Vincent. Vincent ducked out of the way and started firing at it, another gun produced from somewhere, as he made his retreat. Marty felt movement behind him as he lined up the creatures wounded leg. He fired and the creature collapsed again. Something small and metal flew over his shoulder to lodge itself in the creature's eye.

It howled and fell back against the wall, right where Rulf had fallen. Marty felt some of his fury return. The creature was wounded and bleeding badly, its death was assured they only had to wait. But somehow that wasn't enough. As Vincent rushed over to Rufus who had pushed himself up on one arm to throw his dagger. Mart walked up a pile of rocks and debris till he was at eye level with the fallen creature. It made a pitiful sound and tried to raise its arm to swipe at Marty. He fired and the arm fell back down accompanying the creatures howl with a thump on the rocks. Leveling the gun that the creature's remaining eye. He spoke softly,

"For Rulf you ugly piece of shit," he took two precarious steps forward the rock tumbling out from underneath him and leveled the barrel only a few inches away from the things head. He fired. 

Lowering his gun and feeling more empty and tired than he ever had before in his life, he turned and walked over to the place he had last seen Rulf. His friend lay, eyes closed half underneath a wooden beam. Marty took in a shuddering breath and closed his eyes. His legs, seemingly sore and sick of holding him up came out from underneath him making him have a rough seat on the cement floor beside his friend.  Marty bowed his head and patiently waited for the sound of blood roaring through his head settle down again. 

But that wasn't to be. Something disturbed him. 

"You gonna sit there foreva? Or are ya gunna get me the fuck outta here?"

It was quietly said, but made Marty's eyes snap open and his head jerk around sharply.

 "Rulf!" 

"What?" came Rulf's surly reply.

"You're alive!" Marty said still somewhat in shock himself.

"Of course I'm alive you sappy fuck! Now stop cryin' and get me the fuck outta this shit! There's something warm and wet trickling down me leg and it fucking stinks down here!"

Vincent walked up behind Marty and looked down at Rulf with the slightest of smiles. "Anything broken?"

"Not as far as I fuckin know, but I definitely don't feel like a field of fuckin daisies!" Rulf said. 

Vincent started moving the rubble with Marty. 

***************

_Notes: Bet no one thought they'd live to see this fic updated huh? Remember this about me, no matter how long I take at things, I always finished everything I start. Always. Even if it does take an entire lifetime. Teehee._

_            Neway, this is nowhere near what I had planned for the chapter. There was meant to be more. And this is also the first chapter without a flashback. Weird huh? It's basically because after the big fight scene the word count already ran too high. I'll have to finish things up next chapter. _

_            Neway, big thanks to Sa and Ace, without their help I wouldn't have finished this even as soon as I did. _

_            Junon next,  and a few characters you might recognize. _

_I have chills._

_AF_

_anime_fearie@excite.com___

_Review! My dying  fic needs reassurance!_

_http://www.geocities.com/anime_fearie/___

_Don't forget the mailing list!_


	6. Sin City

Do What You Will

by AF

Chapter 6

by AF & Ace

Sin City

Fort Condor had been a bust; just like the Mithril Mines the emergency bunker had been cleaned out, leaving them yet again with that wallowing feeling of futility and above all else hunger.

They hadn't bothered bringing extra food along with them in the belief that the stores would be stocked full to the brim with more food and supplies than they could hope to carry out on six heavily laden wagons.

"How secret were these supposedly secret bunkers anyway?" Marty had prodded Vincent on their last night at Fort Condor.

Vincent merely shrugged, "I was led to believe that the bunkers were a heavily guarded secret until the need arose for their use, to reduce the risk of looting. I can only speak of how it was in my time."

"Fucking marvelous." was Rulf's surly input. "So every Shinra man an' his dog has probly looted all the fucking bunkers a year ago when th' Shinra went unda."

"It's possible," Vincent mused. "But I find it hard to believe that regulation changed that much over the years. Only the higher ups really should have known where they were. And of course the elite troops."

"Soldier and the Turks you mean," Marty confirmed.

Vincent nodded.

"Well that narrows it down," Marty stated optimistically. "I don't think there were any Soldiers left after Sephiroth."

"Oh yeah," Rulf muttered sarcastically, "narrows it down to the Turks, that heaps fucking better."

"It is actually," Marty interrupted. "Vincent is going to Junon to find Shinra people, Turks included. Maybe we could tag along, find out what happened to it all."

"Yeah, then you can tell 'em to give it to us while I go piss meself. I ain't gonna fight the Turks over this, ya know."

"I'm not suggesting we do. I just meant that we helped save Rufus right? That might be worth something to them. Look, I'm not saying we act like he's our hostage," Marty went on quickly seeing Vincent's expression, "I'm talking about gratitude, that's all. They might be generous about it when they see Rufus is okay."

"You naive little fuck, Marty. They'll laugh their asses off, then shoot us. Maybe not even in that order. These are Turks, they wouldn't go outta their way to piss on ya if ya caught on fire savin' their mothers from a burnin' house. What makes ya think for a moment that they'll even want th' fucker back in th' first fucking place?"

All three turned to regard Rufus who was at this moment on the other side of the room, picking dirt out of the soles of his shoes with the edge of his sword, his feet still firmly inside his boots.

"Okay, good point." Marty conceded. "But I still think it's worth a try. Vincent, you must be pretty sure they'll protect him if you take him there."

Vincent sighed, "Rulf is right, I can't be sure they'll even want to see him, but as you said, it is worth a try. I can't take him with me."

"You want to investigate those files you took from Midgar." Marty guessed.

Vincent raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.

The trio sat in silence for a while before Rulf shifted uneasily.

"So we're goin' to Junon."

"A Junon with no power, no food and the densest population on the entire continent. I can think of better places to be going," Marty commented.

"The perfect place to hunt for Turks," Vincent reminded.

Marty waved away to reminder, "I know, we're still coming. But I don't have to be joyful about it."

"You could always stay here," Vincent told him with an almost amused expression.

Marty sighed, "I'm not sure which would be worse, going to Junon or staying somewhere we know the Garens have been."

"There is no evidence that they will return."

Vincent was right, of course. There was nothing here for the Garens and no reason they could think of for them to return, but it wasn't totally out of the realms of possibility. With the fort so close to Junon it might make a good staging position for future raids on the big city but they all had the impression that the Garens weren't an especially cautious lot and would probably just do what they seem to have been doing for the entire journey: attack a settlement and move onto the next. And as far as Marty could ascertain, Fort Condor had been abandoned since the fall of Shinra. The condor was no longer under threat and the miners had since packed up and gone home to their families. It would seem having no warm bodies to play with had made the Garens move on pretty quickly, but there was still evidence that they had been here at least for a night or so. Long enough to rest and eat. There were bones strewn around the central room, uncooked, animal and human, that looked like a wild animal had been at them. The only reason they knew it wasn't a wild animal was that the main room was only accessible by rope oh and, the biggest giveaway, the dead Garen near the entrance half eaten and dead for probably only a half day.

"At least they aren't the cohesive killing unit we imagine them to be," Marty commented.

"Let's hope they continue th' trend," Rulf put in.

"I doubt it's anything we can reason out for ourselves. They aren't human, they don't have human motives or reasoning for anything anymore." Vincent told them.

Rufus wandered over to the group and plunked himself down next to Vincent. "They were bored."

"Huh?" Marty asked. "What makes you think that?"

Rufus gave Marty a half smile, "Aren't you?"

"The terror takes the edge off," Marty replied. "And even if I was bored it doesn't mean I'm about to kill anyone here and gnaw on their bones."

"Because you have human feelings. Friends, warm emotions, you're civilized, you're human. A bored and hungry wolf wouldn't think twice. You kill off the weakest of the pack to provide food maybe amusement and to remind the rest of the pack whose boss. Providing sport for the rest of the pack keeps them happy and docile as well."

Marty and Rulf thought about that statement for a while with carrying degrees of disgust on their faces. Vincent merely kept his eyes on Rufus, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Most animal don't kill each other for sport," Vincent said to Rufus after a few moments.

"They aren't human now, but they used to be. I suppose something got left over." Rufus answered simply, before stretching and lying down on his side. "Humans do kill each other for sport."

After that Rufus rolled onto his other side, apparently getting comfortable, and went to sleep.

He often did that, Marty noticed. Rufus was getting better at joining in on the campsite conversations of a night but generally he'd end up curling up and going to sleep right in the middle of a conversation. Usually most of the group didn't mind so much because Rufus' usual conversations tended toward the creepy and unusual and they were happy of the reprieve. But the comment about the Garens being bored earlier was leading Marty to believe that Rufus was becoming increasingly bored himself with their little adventure.

At first, Marty had regarded Rufus' attitude as almost childlike. In Midgar it had been that of a scared child but at the same time seeing him fight was like watching a veteran hero take the field. And while Rufus' use of weapons and the grace of his movements hadn't diminished, his personality had been aging and he was more like an older teenager now wrapped up in his own little world, finding amusement in the silly adults around him.

Obviously the man had slipped a few integral cogs in his brain but Marty couldn't help the feeling that Rufus knew a lot more than the more sane parts of the party and was drawing amusement from them trying to figure things out. But he was just as obviously getting bored with traveling the further they went away from Midgar. Perhaps the spark of sanity Marty had been seeing grow in Rufus was worrying him. After all that had happened to Rufus in his life, it was a fair assumption to believe that Rufus preferred the insanity that Midgar had to offer. In Midgar he could wrap his memories around him and live them out to his hearts content in his mind. But out here he had other things to focus on and the memories were no longer his living world but were what they were to everyone else. Reminders of a past long gone in a world you still have to function in. Memories you have to get over in order to go on functioning, in fact.

Well, it was just a theory.

*

It was almost sunset when Marty got his first sight of Junon in two years. Before Midgar was destroyed he used to like coming to the city on one errand or another. While Junon had most of the modernisation of Midgar, it wasn't quite as oppressive as Midgar had been so it had been a little nicer to visit. Plus, it had most of the mod-cons you'd expect to find in any big city of the time.

Now, he expected he would have turned and run at the sight of it sitting on the distant cliffs if even one of his companions showed the slightest inclination not to go there after all.

Marty hadn't given much of a thought as to what Junon must now be like until the time had come to actually go there. Now that he did have a moment to think it over he didn't like what logic was telling him.

At least half of the surviving Midgar populace had set out for the big city; after Kalm had started to shut them out, there was really nowhere else to go. Kalm could barely support the numbers it already had and a couple of hundred people pushed their resources to breaking point. And so hungry, tired and afraid, the refugees and come here. Junon had a fairly large population to begin with but they were far better off in dealing with the masses of people flocking to the city. However, there was no way Junon could have gotten around the problem of any other village of the continent and that was their very limited supplies. They probably would have done okay for a while but after the last of the crops from the plains came in the people of Junon would have started to feel the pinch all the more. And Marty could well imagine the results. Junon had no law after Shinra, had no way to control the populace, and Marty half expected Junon to resembled Midgar as it was now rather than the thriving city it had been. People would fight for food and shelter, power and control and here they were, two ordinary guys, one ex-Turk freak of nature and one insane ex-President with a bad dye job.

"We're gonna get cheesed aren't we?" Marty asked no one in particular as they all stood there silently looking toward the city.

The party stayed silent for a while, reflecting on the question.

Marty could not stay silent for long though. "Well, maybe it's not as bad as all that. Maybe we're letting our imaginations run away with us."

"Wish they'd carry us in th' otha direction then," Rulf grumbled.

Vincent shrugged. "Perhaps they kept the reactor going."

"Of course!" Marty caught on lighting up, "Maybe they've had no problems then."

"You can't eat reactors, Mart." Rulf reminded.

"I hope for your sake they haven't kept it running. The last bunker is in the tunnels leading down to the reactor. You'll want them as deserted as possible." Vincent told them.

"At least if th' reactor is runnin' th' beer will be cold," Rulf added brightly.

"And maybe if we stay here staring at it and not moving we can will ourselves there," Rufus told them more than a tad impatiently.

Vincent looked at him in surprise before merely shrugging and nodding. "Let's move."

*

_Rufus always enjoyed riding in the helicopter. There was nothing like it, even for the boy who could practically have everything. Well, everything material he could ever really want. _

_When they flew in low over Junon, it was the icing on the cake. He had never seen Junon before, the only other city in the world that could actually be called a city. He had been told that Junon was nothing very special, that it was less than half the size of Midgar but Rufus was entranced anyway. Its huge harbour was busy with large ships, the streets swarming with cars and little specks he had to imagine were people. The terraced city was amazing to look at, the larger buildings still relatively new compared to his home city. _

_But, he supposed, this was going to be his home city now. Midgar would become somewhere to go back to only to visit for the next six to ten years. He was coming to Junon to attend school. A better school than any in Midgar and as his father had put it to him on one of the rare occasions; 'It's time you made something of yourself on your own now instead of having everything handed to you like a spoilt brat. It's time to earn some respect.'_

_If Rufus hadn't been so intimidated by being with his father at the time he might have laughed. So far his education or his life hadn't really been the fun, easy, roller-coaster ride his father seemed to think it was. He was actually happy in a way to be leaving Midgar in that respect. No doubt he would actually gain a little more freedom living in a boarding school dorm with teachers watching his every move than he ever had at home, because basically freedom there was only something he could fantasize about under the watchful eye of his tutors in Shinra. _

_Perhaps his only regret was that, whatever friends he did have at home, would be staying at home. He would have a Turk with him here true, but it wouldn't be Tseng most of the time. It was some taciturn weirdo that he'd only ever see whenever he left school grounds. The rest he wouldn't see till he came home for a visit. Tseng, Sephiroth…_

_Still, he was confident that his stay in Junon would be worthwhile. Anything was better than staying in Midgar. He'd be able to feel the sun and smell the ocean and he couldn't wait. From up high, Junon looked to Rufus, perfect._

*

It was dark before they got to the city limits. The city below had been deserted, the lift into the city was unguarded the city left open to the world. And it seemed the whole world had entered.

The fact of the matter was, Junon was worse than any of them had ever imagined it would be. At least they had managed to keep the lights on.

"Holy crap," Rulf muttered when they walked out onto the main street. Nobody else seemed to be able to come out with anything better to say.

The streetlamps were on but were being over shadowed by the random fires set here and there along the street. The street was in no way clear and was piled everywhere with assorted junk and old car wreckages - some of it on fire, some just stinking and rotting. No car could drive on this street; even for pedestrians you'd probably need a map just to get across the street.

Marty clamped a hand over his nose.

"That's rotting meat I smell," Rulf announced.

Rufus who was crouched over by one of the piles sorting through the outlying contents with the tips of his sword suddenly huffed and stood up. "Bodies."

Marty felt queasy.

Vincent was obviously tense, scanning what area of the street they could see around the piles. They could hear the distant sounds of people - a mixture of laughter, squeals and weird music. None of the sounds did anything to soothe Marty's stomach; it fact it made it worse knowing people had created this and were now living in it.

"Do you think the Garens could do this?" He asked almost hopefully.

"Our group ain't half big enough. If it were Garens, a bigger group came outta Midgar and skirted Kalm completely or we woulda heard about it."

"It wasn't the Garens," Rufus told them almost smugly, "they wouldn't have left so much meat to rot."

Of course not, Marty remembered. They would have eaten it.

"I think we should get to the bunker and leave as soon as possible," He voted.

"I'm for that," Rulf put in.

"I think we should find some shelter till morning." Vincent told them. "Walking down the tunnels at night might be a little dangerous right now."

"More dangerous than spending the night in amongst the piles of rotting bodies and burning cars?" Marty asked incredulously.

"I would feel better knowing a little more about the city before trying to smuggle a large amount of supplies out of it." Vincent pointed out. "Or did you simply want to fill your pockets and make numerous return trips for your loot?"

"Point taken," Marty acceded, "but I get the feeling that making nice with the locals might be like an extreme sport around here."

"Perhaps," Vincent replied. "Make your mind up. I came here to find certain ex-Shinra who may have even more of your lost loot. You can come with us or we can part ways now and you can hope that you don't get jumped while trying to find a bunker that may or may not have already been looted."

Marty uncovered his nose and sighed sparing a look toward Rulf who gave him a shrug and unholstered his shotgun.

"Okay, lead on."

The piles they later found out didn't go on for much longer and seemed only to be mostly restricted to the outskirts of the city much like any graveyard or city dump as Rulf crudely put it. As they emerged from around the last pile Marty was surprised to see that the music and laughter had been coming from a bar nestled amongst the taller buildings across the street. Actually that's where most of the screams were coming from too. Dim light filtered through glass that was so hard to see through it could have spent the last fifty years at the bottom of the ocean. Several figures were hovering around the bar some as barely seen shadows just outside the glow; some were taking advantage of the light to better show themselves off.

Marty, who had never really considered himself above the company of the occasional hooker, couldn't see the attractiveness of the ones trying to get their attention outside the bar. He found himself barely able to look at them, actually. Not out of any shyness, a pretty girl was a pretty girl and pretty girls he figured were there to be stared at. But these girls looked more like pretty girls who had been dead for a least a couple of days. Their skin was dull, almost gray, their eyes were lifeless pits and skinny didn't even begin to describe the way joints poked out and ribs showed through. In fact, it reminded him sharply of the last zombie flick he'd seen back when movies were still being made. If these girls weren't the walking dead now it looked like they'd soon be the completely lifeless dead before too much longer.

"It's possible I've just been turned off sex for life," Marty commented to Rulf quietly as they pushed open the doors to the bar.

Rulf grunted in agreement.

The bar itself was surprisingly packed out, standing room only at the bar, every table being occupied in the small smoky room. Mostly men were sitting at the tables, a few tough looking women were present as well. Most had scars and looked battle worn and frankly scary. Marty was trying his best not to look intimidated by the stares he was receiving. Bar staff wove in and around the tables serving dirty glasses filled to the brim with an almost clear liquid that he bet wasn't water. Here and there he could see a few of the serving girls were being roughly treated for the amusement of the whole bar and no one seemed inclined to intervene. One girl screamed quite loudly when one of the patrons threw her to the ground and kicked her in the ribs with a boot. Marty didn't realize it till he felt a metal claw close around his arm but he'd had his knife half out of it's sheath and had taken a step in the direction of the table.

"We will be killed if we make one wrong move here," Vincent's soft voice hissed into his ear, "the girl will be alright, I'm sure it's not worse than she usually deals with in a night. So please try to be friendly to the Junon natives that have us at odds at least twenty to one."

Marty hadn't been thinking about that, he hadn't been thinking at all actually. He let his knife slide back into its sheath and nodded for Vincent's sake anyway.

Blind heroics had never really been his style but bullies just pissed him off. Vincent was absolutely right though; if he picked a fight with any of these guys he doubted he'd live for even five seconds afterwards.

Vincent moved off towards the bar with Rulf and Marty was left standing next to Rufus. While Marty was subtly checking the clientele for any signs anyone had seen his impromptu near heroics, Rufus looked around the room in near excitement.

White Marty was relieved to see Rufus express any positive emotion he was sure the wide-eyed tourist look was doing nothing for a group just trying to fit in.

He nudged Rufus' arm, "Tone it down a bit, would you? We're trying to be inconspicuous."

Rufus turned to Marty, actually smiling quite pleasurably. "If you want to 'fit in' in a place like this you have to look happy to be here. If you look too gloomy people will think you disapprove."

Wow, two complete sentences! Rufus really must like it here.

"Yeah, but you're not acting happy are you?" Marty asked him quietly.

Rufus didn't answer just smiled and shrugged before gesturing over Marty's shoulder to show him that Vincent and Rulf were returning.

"The barman doesn't get any ex-Shinra here. His customers are all Junon people and would probably kill Shinra people on sight," Vincent told them once he returned. "He did give me the name of another bar downtown were he heard there were ex-Shinra muscle working as bouncers. It's probably Shinra friendly so it's our best bet."

Further into the city, the trash piles didn't stop completely but they weren't so big here and it didn't smell like anyone was using them as a makeshift cemetery either. It was probably the only relief the foursome got as they moved deeper into the city itself.

People had broken most of the streetlamps here. Most of the breakage looked accidental considering the amount of bullet holes in the lamppost and the walls behind them. The lampposts had probably just been casualties of war that nobody seemed have the want or maybe even the means to replace. It sounded like the war was continuing on several other levels of the city with the bam of rapid gunfire echoing up from other sectors. Nothing seemed especially close and Marty tried his hardest to put it out of his mind. Here at least the most violent goings on seemed to be the occasional beating happening off the streets down little alleys they passed. Gangs four or five strong roamed over the cracked asphalt but none bothered with them. Marty had to assume that his group looked like more trouble than they were worth.

Even though small bouts of violence were going on around them Vincent led them onwards without a faltered step. It made Marty wonder exactly what kind of hero Vincent Valentine was supposed to be. Sure it wasn't like Marty himself was running off to the rescue at every scream and plead for help but Marty also wasn't incredibly stupid either. Marty knew he wouldn't be any help against a gang of four or five guys other than to give the gang's poor victims a couple of seconds of reprieve while the finished off Marty and got back to torturing their initial prey. Marty could handle himself fairly well in some situations but he wasn't seasoned and he wasn't especially strong either. But Vincent was strong, fast and deadly. If he led to charge the fight would be over in moments and Marty wouldn't have to feel so bad about just walking past.

Rulf seemed to be having the same reservations but also seemed just as determined to ignore his surroundings completely and just keep moving.

To Rufus' credit Marty could see his head snap toward any and all sounds of fighting seemingly eager to join the fray. He looked genuinely like he wanted to help but Vincent kept shaking his head when Rufus looked at him and resolutely marched onward. Whether Rufus was keen to help people or just keen to fight remained to be seen, but at least he wasn't being oblivious to it all like Vincent apparently was.

At least that's what Marty thought until a woman's scream echoed through the night close by. Rufus looked to Vincent like always but this time Vincent gave Rufus a tiny decisive nod and the two took off in a sprint toward the sound.

Taken by surprise it took Marty a few moments to realize what had happened and to start after them. Just out of sight behind a small pile of trash up ahead Marty could see the vague outline of two figures struggling on the ground and a couple more standing around watching with various clubs and knives in their hands. Rufus ran nimbly up the pile of debris jumped at the top and came down swinging his sword at the trio standing around. He caught one surprised target a vicious slash across the chest, pivoted and almost decapitated the second. Vincent meanwhile skidded to a stop next to the writhing couple on the ground, shot the third man standing before he realized what had happened to his buddies, turned to the struggling couple on the ground next to him and cleanly shot the topmost combatant in the head.

It was over before Marty and Rulf even arrived on scene but when Marty did get there he saw what the fuss had been about. One of the people on the ground had been a woman, her clothes half ripped off. She was sobbing and now covered in blood seeping out of her attacker, who was still lying on top of her. Marty and Rulf quickly hauled the guy off her and tumbled him into the nearest pile of trash. Rufus pulled one of the least bloodied coats off one of the dead and threw it to Rulf to give to the woman. Marty turned back to Vincent, still surprised at the sudden rush to action after they had already ignored so much tonight. It was then that Marty saw Vincent's expression and realized just what it had cost the old time hero to walk the streets ignoring the pain around him. Vincent's look was fierce, his jaw clenched tightly as he stared with hatred the dead around him. Obviously this last test had snapped Vincent's resolve.

"How did you even know what was going on?"

"Very good eyesight," Vincent replied tightly.

Marty looked at the woman now holding onto Rulf for dear life and still sobbing and then back to Vincent.

"Not that I'm complaining at the act of heroism, but why now? Why couldn't we have helped all those other people?"

"We need to remain inconspicuous if we are to survive here."

"Yeah, I get it, but are we only saving damsels or are we equal opportunity?" Marty asked sarcastically.

He hadn't meant to sound nasty but he was frustrated by it all. The whole reason he was here was to reduce the suffering of his own people not to ignore the suffering of others.

Vincent didn't answer him just turned and started off again without another word. Marty and Rufus fell in behind him, Rufus looking a lot calmer apparently now he'd had the chance to kill something. Rulf and the woman brought up the rear.

"Fuck, I have a big mouth."

The group parted ways with the woman a little ways down the street at a building where she had a friend who could help her. They continued until they came to another bar that pretty much resembled the first one except for the fact that it didn't look quite so busy.

They entered the bar expecting to find much of the same as the first, which was pretty much how it looked though the cliental looked slightly less lethal. Probably only because most of them were unconscious or fast becoming so. Marty hadn't realized how late in the night it must have become already.

He was about to express this view to Vincent thinking that their search might have to wait till the daytime but was put off by Vincent not paying the slightest bit of attention to him. Vincent instead was staring, unblinkingly at a man with fiery red hair sitting down toward the back of the bar with a drink in one hand.

Marty felt the man looked vaguely familiar. The man must have felt their combined stares and turned his head slightly to look at them all. He didn't seem to recognize them, he turned his head casually back, emptied his drink, set the glass calmly down onto the bar top. Then the red head stood up so quickly he knocked his barstool backwards and made a dash for a door at the back of the bar.

Not even Vincent seemed ready for the guy's mad escape, but Rufus grinned evilly and took off after the man before the barstool had even hit the floor.

***

_Notes by Ace:_

_Well I know you've waited a while for this one too but I hope it was somewhat worth the wait. And lookee here, new character yay! Gee I wonder who it could be! Anyway enough of the sarcasm, hope you enjoyed,_

_Ace_

_Ps thanks to my new beta reader Race, many many thanks!_


	7. Unhappy Family Reunion

Do What You Will

By AF

Chapter IV By AF & Ace Unhappy Family Reunion

"_C'mon Rufus, you can't hide forever."_

_Rufus smiled at the voice coming out of the earpiece in his left ear. Reno's taunting was pretty familiar with him now and during their little training games it seemed to be Reno's great strategy to annoy and or amuse Rufus enough so that he would end up giving himself away. Either that or Reno was getting bored with the game but his tone told Rufus that he knew Rufus was nearby and wanted Rufus to respond. But not today, today he wouldn't fall for it, today he might actually end up winning._

_Normally training Turks shouldn't have anything to do with the mighty Vice-President of the Company, but since Rufus had returned from his latest trip to Junon Tseng had persuaded him to help out with the newest recruit. Apparently Tseng was having some trouble with him and Rufus could see why. It wasn't that Reno was too good for Tseng it was more likely that the recruit was too lively for Tseng. Tseng cool, calculating, composed and conservative could not seem to handle the loud, temperamental, aggressive and uncouth trainee and for that matter neither could most of the other Turks. Normally if irreconcilable personality clashes occurred with the Leader of the Turks the trainee would be dismissed and they'd start again with someone new. However, the problem with Reno was that he was good. He excelled at his training in all facets to the point where he was beginning to rival Tseng in tactics and technique. The downside of that was that while Tseng refused to train him anymore because he didn't get along with him, the other Turks refused to train him because he'd invariably show them up at every possibly opportunity and then quite aggressively gloat about it later. The happy concession was another who had ample training from Tseng without having to worry about his fighting reputation because he wasn't meant to have one being an executive, while at the same time being good enough to keep up with the talented rogue. It was all really just a little confusing._

_"Not scared are you?" Was the next radio taunt that Rufus completely ignored._

_While Tseng felt Rufus was good enough and easy going enough to handle Reno, and for the most part Rufus could keep up with him, he hardly ever won their training matches and Rufus' pride was beginning to get more than a little bruised especially since he'd for so many years believing he was good at this stuff. _

_The 'stuf'f was varied. They'd had a few sparring matches, a few tactics assignments, strategy problems, weapons training and gun tests even drinking competitions and Rufus had won very very few of them against his training buddy. Rufus of course didn't get to train these days really at all, which probably accounted for him falling behind so often._

_Today it was tactics and strategy which meant Rufus and Reno were tear-assing around the training room in a holographic duplicate of the Shinra Building trying to be the first one to get a shot off at the other. And as far as Rufus could tell he had his buddy cornered in the labs of the 68__th__ floor with no way out other than to open himself up to Rufus' careful aim._

_"Hey Rufus, saw your old man down at the Honey Bee last week, does he like own that place now? He's there often enough."_

_Rufus smirked and kept his place behind the computer terminals, his eyes on the room. _

_It might have been the breeze from an air conditioning vent behind him but Rufus felt the smallest of air movement on the back of his neck startling him. Without thinking he dropped flat and rolled to the side in time to see Reno drop down onto the spot he'd just been occupying. Rufus managed to squeeze off a shot before Reno had realized what had gone wrong dropping the surprised man with a direct shot through the heart._

_After the shock of the win had sunk in Rufus relaxed the grip on his gun and got to his feet and pumped his fist into the air in a victory salute over his fallen comrade._

_"Hah!"_

_A winded Reno looked up at him and gave him a dirty look. _

_"Lucky fuck."_

_He got up off the floor just as the simulated wound faded from his chest and brushed the imaginary dirt off his jeans._

_"Don't be a bitch just because you lost. Be a good sport and take your dues."  
"Yeah, whatever. I owe you a drink this time round but I have no practice being a good sport because this is one of the rare times I actually lost."_

_"Bite me. You can't complain that I'm not worthy of your time or something just because you win more often. I make you work for those wins and that's the whole point."_

_"Point taken, but you're still a bastard."_

_"As if you know me."_

_Reno snorted and rolled his eyes. "Don't need to know the man when I know the rep. I'm from the slums remember? I know exactly what you and your kind are like. You may pay me, but I don't have to like you."_

_Rufus grinned. "Did I miss something? Did we force you to join Shinra?"_

_"Maybe I got sick of being stepped on, ya' know? Maybe I feel like I want to be the one stepping for a change. Besides can't argue with the pay but I can sure as hell make your life more of a misery by being here than being a poor slum rat impotently fuming at the Shinra from afar."_

_"That almost sounded traitorous," Rufus responded without much rancor._

_Reno shrugged. "I'm more interested in the paycheck than the payback, so who cares what I say? Don't worry, I plan to be a loyal and diligent lackey. I just also plan to be a slightly cantankerous and annoying one too if it's okay with your highness."_

_"Like I care what you do. As long and you don't mooch on that drink, I've been waiting a long time for that drink and I plan to savor the moment."_

_"Fine, enjoy the moment. Your day in the sun can't last forever."_

*

Rufus put his back to the wall near the alley mouth and calmed his breathing, trying to make as minimal noise as he could for two reasons. The first was that with the noise he was making after the exertion of running he couldn't hear his prey's movements, and second, he didn't want to give himself away and lose again. He liked to win these games, he liked the satisfaction and the sense of dominance it brought. Perhaps he could win decisively this time and then they'd know who was really the best. After all, this time he'd been practicing. This time he wouldn't be left behind because he didn't have the time to keep up his training. All his life had been since Midgar had fallen had been training to fight and to win.

The alley was dark, which was why he was so focused on being able to hear his quarry. It made him miss having a gun and was unsure why they hadn't let him have one. Sure he'd been trained in all sorts of weapons, but he liked the advantage of the gun in situations like this where one noise made could win him the game. Still the up close and personal style of the sword still appealed to him, but he couldn't be sure what kind of weapons his opponent had and the disadvantage made him be more careful rather than rushing in like he would have preferred.

There. The scrape of rough clothing against the brickwork. Just inside against the other wall. He flung himself away from the wall and into the alley. He saw the shape of his foe and the outline of a gun in their hand. He kicked out and sent the gun flying, pivoted and kicked again into his quarry's chest. He heard the gasp of air being forced out of the other man's lungs and the man hit the wall behind him smacking his head and sliding down the wall to land on his butt. Not defeated, the man went to scurry away, but Rufus knew he couldn't lose. Not this time. Today, he was the quicker one. Today and every day after, he would be the winner. He stopped his fleeing victim by lowering the sword to the man's throat making it clear by pressing the blade up against the soft skin that moving again would be a very bad idea. He moved aside enough so the bare light from the main road would fall across both him and his captive.

Reno squinted up at Rufus for a moment before he began to laugh.

"Well, fuck me if this doesn't just cap off my whole year of bad godsdamn luck."

Rufus grinned in a totally not-very-amused way. "You owe me a drink."

"Yeah, well you owe me a new pair of underwear. Aren't you dead? You look kinda dead."

"Probably." Rufus replied in a voice that said he'd seriously considered that he might be. "Though if this is hell, I've got to say that I find this plane of existence much more agreeable than the last."

Rufus heard his three companions before they showed up, Marty and Rulf breathing hard and Vincent looking down at Reno with vague surprise.

"Why did you run?" Vincent asked sharply after a moment.

"The last time I saw you we came close to killing each other. What did you expect, that'd I buy you a beer and we'd sit and talk about the good 'ol days? Give me a break."

"I didn't come here to start a fight," Vincent told him plainly. "I came here to find someone to help me."

Rufus took the sword away from Reno's throat and crouched down apparently to look a little more closely at the other man's face. The silent scrutiny obviously made Reno a little nervous.

"What's wrong with him?" he asked Vincent out of the corner of his mouth apparently so that Rufus wouldn't hear, even though the other man was staring at him not three feet away. "Isn't he supposed to be dead?"

"You tell me," Vincent replied coolly. "He was your boss."

"You didn't even come back to check did you?" Rufus asked Reno quietly. "You just left the city without knowing for sure."

"Dude, a seventy story building practically fell on your head. It's not something you can just walk off, normally. And besides, we're really not that close."

Rufus frowned at him, but didn't say anything.

Reno shook his head. "Do you really find it so hard to believe that we weren't friends? We never liked each other and to be honest I couldn't have given a pig's fart if there was a minute chance whether you'd survived or not. So no, I didn't spend the next two weeks digging through a city of rubble on the million to one chance that you might possibly be alive and well. To be honest, I wouldn't have even kicked half a brick aside to save your worthless life."

Rufus seemed to take this all fairly calmly. He spent a few more moments staring into Reno's defiant eyes before a hand shot up and his fingers wrapped around Reno's throat. Reno tried to pry the fingers away from his throat but couldn't. He tried to kick as well, but so much time spent in the ruins of Midgar, in the mako polluted city center had done more to Rufus than fractured his mind. He was far stronger now and faster and if he wanted to crush Reno's throat, there was nothing Reno was going to be able to do about it. Rufus' eyes blazed brighter with the mako poisoning making Reno realize that he was about to die.

But the pressure was suddenly gone from his throat and he started coughing, his throat on fire as he tried to draw air into his lungs. Through blurry eyes he saw the three others had pulled Rufus off him and were holding his arms back. Reno had seen his boss angry at him before but the look on Rufus' face went out the other side of angry and into pure wrathful fury. He couldn't pull enough air into his lungs from coughing and he got very dizzy before passing out on the asphalt.

*

Vincent was there when Reno came to the next morning. Even this close to the coast, the dust was still thick enough to blot out most of the sunlight. But because of the offshore winds, instead of the daytime looking like early dawn all the time, Junon looked like it was having a daylong dusk. The small amount of extra sunlight gave the whole city a red tinge that was actually more disturbing that the almost total darkness that had settled permanently over Midgar these days.

Vincent heard Reno cough while he was over by the window looking out at the sky and turned to see Reno sit up in bed and gingerly rub his throat.

"You were lucky to stay conscience as long as you did. He could have killed you, he's stronger now."

"I noticed," Reno replied in a scratchy whisper.

Vincent came over and picked up a glass of dirty looking water and handed it to Reno. "You might have handled that better last night."

"The guy's a total nut job, you can see the crazy waving back at you through his eyes. I could have said monkeys like roller blading and the fruitloop probably still would've tried to strangle me."

"Actually these days Rufus would have found that information quite interesting." Vincent sighed. "I had come to you for help."

"Why me?"

"Not you specifically. Just anyone from Shinra that might have had a personal relationship with Rufus. He obviously needs help that I can't give him."

"Why are you helping him at all? He did try to kill you."

Vincent was debating how much to tell Reno. He wasn't keen to share but it was a valid question. And while Reno was obviously not the one to take charge of Rufus, he could use Reno's help tracking down anyone else that might be in Junon.

"We have a history," Vincent said simply.

"Whatever, 'cause I wouldn't piss on him if he were on fire."

"Did something happen between you two?"

Reno snorted then made a face because of the pain it caused his throat. "We met. Look, I was never a loyal till the end kind of guy. I was solely in it for the paycheck. Soon as I saw the accounting department buried under a ton of rubble, I decided that I probably wasn't going to get paid anymore. It really doesn't get any more complicated than that. Spoilt fucking rich kid that was worse than his old man even though he'd got everyone believing how much better things would be. Yeah, right. Turned out he was even more of a bastard than his old man. So Rufus can go fuck himself out the other side of crazy for all I care."

There was probably more behind the story than Reno was letting on but he didn't want to push the issue. Reno obviously didn't want anything to do with Rufus and that was all there was to it.

"Where is Crazy, anyway? Coming back to finish the job anytime soon?"

"I sent him along with Marty and Rulf to find a supply bunker. They probably won't be back in a while."

"Good. I suppose this means you'll be moving along soon then?"

Vincent answered Reno's hopeful look with a weary looking one. "There must be others here from Shinra. They didn't end up in Kalm, this is the likeliest destination."

"Someone you could fob Rufus off on? Seriously Vincent, there are other Shinra people here but I wouldn't put good odds on any of them taking over curing Rufus of the crazies. He was their boss, he wasn't anyone's best friend. No actually I tell a lie, Tseng told me that he and Sephiroth used to pal around a bit. Huh, it may be true, you really can tell alot about a guy when you see the company he keeps. But Tseng's dead, Sephiroth I most emphatically hope is dead, Scarlet's dead, Heidigar's dead, I sure as shit am hoping Palmer is dead and those were really the only people that knew the man other than a stamped signature on their paycheck every month."

It struck Vincent that perhaps he hadn't really thought this through properly. It had never really occurred to him to Rufus wouldn't have had many or really any friends that might want to help him. "What about the other Turks?"

Reno frowned. "Rude is dead, trying to save Elena. El isn't quite dead yet but she probably wishes she was by now."

"What do you mean?"

Reno rolled his eyes and swung his legs round so he could sit up. "As if you give a shit about my troubles."

"I don't really," Vincent replied honestly. "But it appears to me that we both have problems. Perhaps I can help you with yours and you can help me with mine."

"I'm not looking after the maniac. And just because you help El doesn't mean she will either. As soon as I get El, she's leaving this city for good."

"How?"

"Arrangements have been made," Reno replied mysteriously. "I can't help you."

Vincent leant back against the wall and crossed his arms in thought. Reno watched him for a moment also apparently in deep thought before suggesting, "You know, if Shinra caches are what you're after I can probably help out with that. I mean, for a little help. Just like you said, you help me I help you..."

"Not my purpose, I'm afraid. Where's Reeve in all this?"

Reno looked surprised. "You mean you don't know? Aren't you buddies now or something?"

Vincent had never really thought about it before. Truthfully, he'd never actually seen Reeve in the flesh before and had no real idea what had happened to the man after Vincent had left the Highwind and lost contact with Cait.

Reno seemed to sense this and got a real smug look on his face. "So much for throwing in with the good guys eh? Poor Reeve, how many times do I have to tell the guy that everyone's an asshole and not to trust a bunch of people just because they save the planet. Sure that I will admit was pretty awesome considering I live on this planet too, but it doesn't automatically make you not a dick personality wise."

"So you've seen him?"

"Sure I've seen him. He left like less than a week ago. Back to Midgar of all places. Reckoned he was gonna save the world again or something, I wasn't really paying attention. Apparently he's got the hero bug."

Vincent gave Reno a confused look. "I think you better start at the beginning."

Reno rolled his eyes. "Look I don't mean to be rude here," Reno thought about that statement for a moment. "Actually yes I do, but no. I think I've shared enough for one day. We're not friends, we're not allies. So if it's all the same to you, you can just fuck the hell off and let me get back to my stakeout."

"Stakeout? I thought you worked there?"

Reno snorted. "I'm a Shinra trained Turk, as if I need to work as a bouncer in some seedy little dive. You have heard of a cover before haven't you?"

Vincent let the conversation lapse into silence once more as it seemed that's all Reno was going to explain. Finally he came to a decision.

"If I help you, you give information to Marty and Rulf about those caches. Also I want to hear about what Reeve is doing and why he headed back to Midgar."

A slow grin spread over Reno's face. "Deal."

*

It was a while before Marty, Rulf and Rufus made their way back to the building where they were staying and to Marty's dismay and Rufus apparent delight, Reno was still there. Marty grabbed Rufus' arm as the man with the evil grin took a menacing step forward before he realized just how stupid that move was. If Rufus wanted to kill Reno, a hand on his arm was not going to stop him.

"Find anything?" Vincent asked apparently casually, keeping his eyes on Rufus.

"Not a damn thing!" Rulf supplied oblivious to the stand off. "Cleaned out just like the other one."

"Where?" Reno asked ignoring Rufus, leaning against the sill of the far window.

"The reactor cache," Marty told him.

Reno snorted, "Well, duh. If you're gonna go after any old storehouse they made record of you're not gonna find squat. What you need is the word of mouth ones only the higher ups get told about. Crackers here probably wouldn't remember but I do."

Marty gave him a dumb look. "We are looking in the places only the higher ups are supposed to know about."

"If they were written down anywhere every idiot with a laptop is gonna know about them. Nah, you need the word of mouth ones. You need the VIP bunkers," Reno finished smugly.

"You gonna help us?" Rulf asked.

Marty meanwhile gave Vincent a puzzled look. Reno was a Turk. Marty knew the rep enough to know that Reno wasn't about to help them out of the goodness of his black little heart. He got the oddest feeling that Vincent had gotten them all into something here that Marty was fairly sure he wasn't going to be very happy about.

"Sure am," Reno replied with a big smile. "Isn't that nice of me?"

Rufus meanwhile wasn't pulling against Marty's hand anymore. Instead he was giving Reno the same quizzical look Marty had been giving Vincent. Reno noticed and turned his smile on Rufus. "Still want to kill me?"

"Yes." Rufus replied after a pause for thought.

"Can it wait?"

Another pause. "Yes."

Reno rolled his eyes.

Vincent however just shrugged at Marty. "I have made a deal."

"Yeah, I was getting that," Marty replied.

"Reno here has a missing person to find. I have agreed to help get her back. In return he will supply us with the information about the bunkers."

Rulf didn't look happy. "You're going to trust a Turk?"

Vincent looked as though the thought hadn't occurred to him before that he couldn't. "I was a Turk. You seem to trust me."

"There is a certain honor amongst thieves," Reno supplied. "Just one of those bunkers could do me three lifetimes in supplies and trade so that'd I'd never go hungry or lonely, like, ever. I didn't say I wasn't going to keep one to myself. But there has to be six others on this continent alone, two of which are in Midgar and it would be a cold day in hell before you ever see me back there. I really don't care enough to lie."

He probably wasn't stupid enough either. Marty couldn't imagine anyone lying to Vincent. He'd seen Vincent's bad side and no doubt so had Reno. He didn't figure Reno to be the suicidal type. Something else did occur to him though.

"Wait, Vincent, I thought you were all set to part ways with us? Why would you risk your life helping Reno? There can't be anything in this for you."

If Vincent took offense to this statement, he didn't show it. "Reno has information about a friend of mine."

"An Avalanche friend?" Marty asked surprised.

"Yes. His name is Reeve. He used to work for Shinra as an executive."

Marty blinked. "Not head of Urban Development Reeve?"

Vincent looked at Marty carefully, "You know him?"

"Um, he worked for Shinra. He wasn't part of Avalanche."

"He joined us. Indirectly."

Marty looked surprised at that statement but didn't offer anything more.

Vincent watched Marty carefully for a moment before continuing. "One of Reno's friends, Elena, was captured by a gang while she was snooping around the old mayoral offices on the upper tier. We're hoping she's still alive and that we can get her back. Once this is done, he will give us our information."

"I've been staking out the bar for a couple of nights where one of the group likes to hang out. He hasn't shown up yet but I only got the faux job recently so I'm hoping he'll turn up soon. The plan was the grab him and get some information about the building they're in so I can have a better chance of getting to El without running into resistance. Never really been in the mayor's offices much when I was with Shinra, even though it was our office too, but I don't really know the layout. But Vince here, Reno slapped Vincent on the back perhaps a might too heartily, "Tells me he knows the place like the back of his hand from his time in Shinra and I doubt me if it's changed too drastically. 'Sides, even if it has, with the two of us, resistance isn't really much of an issue anymore. Anyone gets in out way, they're gonna be dead."

Reno's enthusiasm for killing all comers didn't exactly fit in with what Marty and Rulf considered to be Vincent's usual game plan and both looked at him oddly as if to say, "Really?"

Rufus looked much more excited by the prospect and was grinning. "I'm coming with you."

Reno gave him a considering look but Vincent shook his head. "No."

Rufus lost his grin. "Fuck you."

"Reno has given us some free information about a bunker in the lower city. There may be monsters because of the mako pollution. Marty and Rulf I'm sure could use your assistance."

Rufus' face settled into that of a petulant child. "I want to go with you."

Marty wasn't particularly thrilled with the idea. He'd much rather had Vincent with them and Reno take Rufus, but he could understand the choice. Putting Rufus in a position for an all out killing spree probably would do nothing to settle his already damaged mind, especially considered one of those people he might kill could very well turn out to be Reno. Instead he and Rulf would baby-sit the deranged Rufus and keep him from harm. Still, he couldn't help but be a little worried. The only person Rufus ever listened to was Vincent and Marty wasn't sure he and Rulf could control the man once he got it into his head to do something. He tried to express his misgivings about the plan to Vincent without words but Vincent seemed adamant.

"You will go with them," Vincent told Rufus.

Rufus didn't look happy, but kept his mouth shut and nodded all the same.

*

_Notes: Hello recognizable game characters! I know people like to see more characters and you knew Reno would show up sooner or later 'cause this is an AF fic. But it is nice to see a familiar face! And yay for new games and new places for characters to beat each other up other than the gym. _

_You can expect plot next chapter I promise and I can somewhat promise also that there will probably be at least four more chapters to this fic 'cause believe it or not but we're actually drawing toward the final and core plot of the whole thing that it has taken this long to even get to. But hey, it was fun getting there right? So the guys are going to divide and hopefully conquer next chapter with Vincent and Reno going off the save the damsel and Marty, Rulf and Rufus going off the save the food. Stay tuned!_

_Btw, the chapter is dedicated to Leon, 'cause Leon reviews and I love him. Sorry about the lateness but well, I've explained about the holdup on the mailing list so I won't go into detail. Promise that this fic WILL be finished but work sometimes keeps me extremely busy. Just don't lose hope and I hope you haven't skipped over this part._

_Cheers_

_Ace_


	8. To The Rescue

_Special warning: this chapter has vague descriptions of some pretty violent scenes after the fact. It's not too horrific I played it down pretty well, but just thought I'd better add the warning anyway._

Do What You Will

By AF

Chapter 8

By Ace

To the Rescue

Marty and Rulf rode down the elevator in silence, both of them eyeing their companion uneasily as the man whistled and rocked back and forth on his feet. To the unknowing, Rufus might seem like he was in a good mood, happy to be on the mission set before him. But the truth was that up until the moment he'd stepped into the elevator, Rufus had been in a pretty foul mood at being left behind by Vincent. Marty had found that there was little else scarier than a psychotically deranged man in a bad mood being your travelling companion. To be honest, the mood Rufus had been in, he wouldn't have been surprised if Rufus had turned, ran them both through and left to catch up with Vincent and Reno. He'd probably then kill Reno actually. Oh well, Rufus in a better mood was better than Rufus in a bad mood. But still only marginally better than having no Rufus at all.

"How come you 'spose the elevator's still running?" Rulf asked in a desperate attempt to overcome the only other noise of Rufus' apparently gleeful whistling. "I though all the power was out."

"Runs off a separate battery apparently. It'll run out of power eventually because there's no way to recharge the battery anymore, but it won't be for a few years. It's the main evacuation point for the city so they needed it to have a backup power source."

Rufus stopped whistling and eyed Marty.

"How th' hell d'ya know a thing like that?" Rulf asked surprised.

Marty shrugged as if it were of no importance. "My brother used to work here."

Rulf looked on the verge of asking another question but was interrupted by the elevator doors whooshing open. The very first thing that hit them was the smell. To say it was horrific would have been a big understatement. It was so rank, Marty had to swallow to keep from throwing up seconds after the elevator doors had opened. It was disgusting, and it was also unmistakable. A lot of people had died here.

Rufus unslung his sword and stepped out of the elevator, all alert because that sort of a smell doesn't usually come without some sort of danger. Marty and Rulf were desperately patting themselves down looking for something to tie over their noses as if it could save them from the smell. Both men were breathing shallowly through their mouths in an effort not to smell it but it was the kind of pervasive smell that you taste and still smell through your mouth.

Marty found a handkerchief wet it with his water bottle and tied it over his nose. It didn't really work but it took enough of the edge off that he wasn't retching every so often.

The dust was thick here in the little town beneath the city and after a few steps out into the open, Marty lost sight of Rufus in the swirling brown mess. He didn't want to call out for Rufus having a bad feeling about what they might be alerting and waiting for Rulf patiently so he at least wouldn't be separated from his friend.

"Are we still thinkin' this bunker is worth th' hassle?" Rulf asked him as they forged ahead out into the murk.

It idea of turning around and going back had certainly appealed to Marty, but Rufus had already gone ahead and while Marty believed he could take care of himself, he didn't enjoy the thought of explaining to Vincent how they'd left him down here and chickened out. Especially considering the effort Vincent had gone through to get this information from Reno.

He wondered briefly if Reno had sent them down here knowing how dangerous it was and hoping Rufus might die trying to get to the bunker but ultimately discarded the idea realising that Reno had more to fear from a pissed off Vincent than a crazed but controlled ex-employer. Not that he didn't think Reno wouldn't like the fact they might all be walking to their deaths.

Marty saw the outline of a figure approaching through the dust and brought his gun up to point at the newcomer but the figure stepped close enough for Marty to see it was Rufus, an unreadable expression on his face. He beckoned them the follow him and started back the way he came. Marty and Rulf hustled to catch up and could soon see a house resolved itself out of the murk. The smell was stronger here and without entering, Marty could imagine what was already inside. But Rufus seemed persistent and Marty figured it must be important. They followed him in and closed the rough wooden door behind them, glad to be out of the dust, not so glad to be shut up with the smell. The house wasn't much. It was a multi level house but the second floor was only a half floor and you could almost see most of the upstairs level. There were probably about five bodies all ranging in size from adult to infant. The infant was half in, half out of a pressure steamer on the wood fire stove in the corner of the kitchen. A smallish child of unknown sex was in at least three pieces over the counter top. An adult female had had her arms nailed down on the kitchen table, lying on her back chunks of flesh torn out of her legs, arms, chest and face. An adult male was seated at the table, his head removed and nowhere in sight. The last, possibly a teenager was tied to the slanted ladder leading to the second floor. It had probably been a boy; it was hard to tell since he was facing away and had had all his skin removed.

Marty went ahead and threw up in a corner of the room. Rulf looked very green but he kept his lunch. Rufus was looking at the scene with actual amazement. Marty wasn't sure what reaction he had expected but this was probably low on the list.

He straightened up, wiped the handkerchief across his mouth and went over to Rufus, trying his hardest not to look at the bodies again.

"Why did we need to see this?" Marty asked him with a scratchy voice.

Rufus looked at him with a bit of surprise. "It's them, they're here."

Marty was confused for a moment before understanding dawned. The Garens, the ones that had been preceding them across the country all the way from Midgar. It wasn't a shock that they had been heading for Junon, it was the largest and one of the only cities still standing on the continent. But Marty realised he hadn't really expected to run into their handy work again. There was still a problem with Rufus' idea though.

"The Garens sure did do a number on their victims, but this," he said gesturing around him, "this is more over the top than what we've seen before."

"These bodies in here are about a week old or so. There are more bodies in some of the other houses that are fresher. They took their time, enjoyed themselves because they could this time. They had a lot of people and nowhere to have to move on to. This was their destination," Rufus answered him as though explaining it to a child.

He wasn't keen to question how the ex-president of Shinra Inc knew about stuff like this. And unfortunately he had a good point. And with it came a disturbing revelation. "You think they're still here."

"Somewhere," Rufus answered. "I want to find them."

"You think they might still have live people?"

Rufus shrugged as though that wasn't really important. "Maybe. I bet they worked these people over for days before they killed them."

Marty was caught in a dilemma. If the Garens were around and they had prisoners, he felt like he should try and help them. On the other hand he wasn't stupid. This was a roving band of crazed human mako infused maniacs who probably had the strength of, well, a mako infused maniac. Plus if they were caught, all that happened to these people would probably happen to them too. It wasn't as though he were a heartless coward. Nine times out of ten he would help a person in trouble if he could. But taking a smack in the face for someone and becoming some deranged monster's plaything for a couple of horrific days were two very different things. Especially when there was a very, very good chance that he would be so ineffectual against the aggressors that he would be of no help at all to the people he was trying to save. He supposed in the end the brave thing to do would be to try and help at least, but he wasn't feeling especially brave at the moment.

"I think we would get slaughtered," Marty told Rufus carefully. "I mean there are…" Marty tried to remember how many there had been.

"Seven," Rufus told him. He didn't ask how the other man knew.

"…seven of them, and three of us. That's a little suicidal don't you think?"

"I didn't say I wanted you to come along."

Marty realised how surprised he must look. "One against seven?"

Rufus grinned. "Should be fun."

"No. You will die and Vincent will kill me."

"They can't kill me."

"You're not invincible, Richard."

"Yes I am."

Marty frowned, unsure of what else to say in the face of such blind craziness. "Um, no you're not?"

Rufus sighed, obviously it had not been the reaction Rufus had been after. "You should go to the bunker. I will go find the Garens."

"If I say 'no' again is there the slightest possible chance you're going to listen to me?"

"It's possible." Rufus told him encouragingly.

"How possible?"

"Not very," he confessed. "But it's certainly worth a try."

"Then no, you can't go."

Rufus at least looked happy. "Try and stop me and I'll break your arms."

Marty sighed, it had been worth a shot. "How long?"

"Meet me back here in thirty minutes. If you're late that means you're dead and I don't have to wait for you."

"Fine," Marty told Rufus' back as he started for the door. Partially relieved at least that someone might be able to rescue possible prisoners. Deep down Rufus probably knew that he and Rulf would just get in his way. "Just be careful will you?"

"It's possible," he said over his shoulder with a grin.

*

"So that's the guy."

Vincent watched the man across the bar out of the corner of his eye. The guy was very big, looked very strong and pretty mean. It had been just what he'd been expecting. It didn't surprise him in the least that Reno had singled out probably the biggest guy in the gang to focus on.

"So what exactly was the plan? Did you want to follow him or would you prefer a more to the point strategy?"

Reno grinned and swallowed a mouth of sour tasting beer. "The original plan was to follow him. But that was before I had a co-pilot. I am now thinking of doing a Piece of Cake on him."

Vincent raised an eyebrow at that. The term was a Turk code for a plan of action. It was amazing how the names didn't seem to change over the years. But he was still surprised that Reno would choose to use it. Well maybe not. Reno was grinning at him over the lip of his glass like this was some rerun from the good ol' days and Vincent was starting to suspect that the shock of losing his former life and most of his friends had had a major effect on Reno's state of mind. He'd been a little manic actually. Although it was entirely possible that this was a normal state for Reno and Vincent just didn't know him very well.

"Fine, you're the Cake. I'm not getting hit by that behemoth for your little mission."

Reno saluted him with the glass and finished off the beer. Vincent got up from the table, silently lest his movements draw too much attention and left the building without too much notice from the man at the bar.

Reno waited a few moments then got to his feet and began his unsteady way toward the bar. He came up to stand right next to the man at the bar so close that their shoulders were almost touching and signalled to the bartender for another. The man gave him a sideways glare but Reno merely grinned back and burped the smell of sour beer into the man's face. The man looked disgusted but did nothing else. Reno got his beer and turned to go back to his table, jostling the man's arm and spilling his newly acquired beer down the arm of his jacket.

"Fuck me man, that was the last of my drinkin' money for the week," Reno told him off.

The man straightened up forcing Reno to look up a bit – his eye level not quite reaching to man's neck – and glared at him some more.

"You ran into me you stupid drunk, now fuck off before I throw you out the window."

Reno snorted, "Like to see you try you overgrown son of a diseased whore."

It happened quite quickly after that. The goon hit Reno in the jaw, grabbed his shirt before Reno could tumble backwards, dragged him over toward the window, picked him up and threw him right through it in a shower of glass. Reno hit the sidewalk painfully on his side, slid a little way and decided to lie there and recover for a while to give his body a chance to rest for a moment. The guy followed him out though and stood over him in front of the shattered window, so angry that his face was actually purple.

"You want to take back what you said about my mom before I knife you?"

"Sure", Reno groaned. "Your mamma's an angel. I mean that. Really. Hey I'd fuck her, that's for sure."

The man actually growled at him and bought his boot back in order to kick Reno in the ribs. Reno really wasn't as hurt as he'd been making out though and rolled away in time, bringing his own leg up and kicking the man's only grounded foot. While he was unbalanced Vincent came up behind him, grabbed his shirt collar and jerked him backwards. The man fell flat on his back and after the shock had worn off blinked in surprise up at the muzzle of Vincent's gun that was aimed directly at his face.

Vincent watched Reno get to his this time on really unsteady feet and pick a piece of glass out of his arm.

"In my day, the reason that was called 'Piece of Cake' was to pick a fight that makes the other guy think beating you would be extremely easy. Not to actually let him beat you into a bloody mess."

Reno spat a little blood onto the sidewalk. "Yeah well, times change and it was easier to get him out here once he offered to throw me out the window."

"You are very strange."

The blood covering his lips and most of his teeth did nothing to make Reno's smile look very happy. "Ya noticed that huh?"

*

_"What's it like?"_

_ Sephiroth had barely had a chance to say 'hi' and gave Rufus a puzzled look before sitting down at the table with him. Rufus had already gotten him some lunch but he was obviously still not feeling well and turned a little greener when he saw the food. Rufus pushed the food away and leant back in his chair._

_ "That good huh?"_

_ Sephiroth wasn't a smiling man by nature but he attempted it now, probably trying to reassure his friend that it was not as bad as all that. Rufus wasn't buying it._

_ "So what, you turn fourteen and they start feeding you the magic juice till you get stronger, or puke, or both?"_

_ "This wasn't my first infusion," Sephiroth reminded him._

_ "True but this was your first major Solider dose wasn't it? Must be a big deal, you were away for days this time. Did they stick you in one of those tubes?"_

_ Sephiroth nodded._

_ Rufus wanted to know whether the experience had been scary or if it had hurt a lot but felt in his own mind that the question seemed a little childish somehow. He was the older of the two of them if only by two years but was still smarting over the comments Tseng had made to him last week about Sephiroth being by far the more mature individual._

_ "Well give, are you like a big Solider bad ass yet?"_

_ "I start formal training with my sponsor next week as a third class."_

_ "Pfft. Third class? I thought all those chems they pump you full of was supposed to make you really strong. Why are they starting you at the bottom?"_

_ "Procedure I guess."_

_ No show of modesty for Sephiroth. Rufus might have found that annoying if he didn't know for a fact that there was no point in modesty for Sephiroth. He was good. He was very good. Sephiroth knew this and never saw the point in denying it. Rufus actually felt bad for whoever was going to be Sephiroth's new teacher. It's never good for a student to be better than the teacher in the first week of training. But he could only learn so much swordplay from Tseng and could only practise so much hand to hand in his classes with Rufus. He needed to start on the path Shinra had planned for him._

_ "So you realise we won't be training together anymore?" Sephiroth asked Rufus, looking a little disheartened by this._

_ Rufus shrugged and tried his hardest to look nonchalant. "Yeah I got that memo when Tseng told me that I'd only be sparring in my own time now. Apparently we're both moving on. Though he did give me the name of a good trainer in Junon to help keep my fitness up."_

_ "Junon?"_

_ Rufus tried to grin but failed horribly. "Old man is sending me to business school. Can you believe that?"_

_ "In Junon?"_

_ "Fucking Junon. I'm going to be so bored. Apparently it's only for seven months out of the year but still…fucking Junon. What a hole."_

_ "You didn't say anything."_

_ "You were in a tube in reactor one at the time getting your beauty treatment. But hey, you'll be so busy with the Solider program and everything time will pass quick and I'll be back before summer starts."_

_ Sephiroth looked up and tried to smile again and Rufus noticed the marked glow in the boy's eyes. It had been there before, Sephiroth had been given treatments since he was too young to remember but this big one for the Solider program had made his eyes glow like they were _made_ out of mako. _

_ "You didn't answer my question before."_

"What's it like? You mean after the infusion? Not much different I suppose. I haven't really had a chance to test my strength yet but it's kinda weird."

_ "Weird?"_

_ "Yeah, I met my new teacher this morning, he's the only Solider I've had contact with since it was done. I was looking for the room I was supposed to report to him in and couldn't find it. But as I got closer I could kinda feel him. It was bizarre. As soon as I felt him I found the room without a problem. It wasn't just him either, I could find the Solider floor now with my eyes closed, it's like a beacon."_

_ "You can feel the other Soliders?" Rufus asked sceptically._

_ "Sort of. It's hard to explain."_

_ "Okay, so the treatment obviously fried what's left of you brain," Rufus joked._

_ "I'm being serious," Sephiroth told him._

_ "Uh-huh, sure. You're just excited about properly being in Solider now that all, it's playing games with your mind."_

_ Sephiroth looked about to argue some more but seemed to think better of it. "Excited, sure. It's possible"_

_ It was also possible that Rufus had never seen anyone less excited about anything, ever._

*

Marty and Rulf threw their shoulders against the metal door and made it move maybe an inch inwards. It was a good sign so far that this was one of those doors that didn't rely on power to open. It was also an incredibly good sign that the door had still been locked when they had got here. Now if they could only get the door open and find some treasure, things would be really good. They hadn't expected to have to fight with decades of rust on the hinges bought on by the door's exposure to the sea.

The bunker itself was concealed in a sea cave underneath the support struts of Junon city just north of the undercity where they'd left Rufus and out of the dust cloud swirling around in the bowl like area. All of these were also positive signs because one meant that it was hard to find unless you knew what you were looking for and the second one meant that they were now breathing probably the cleanest air either one of them had breathed in over a year. And for the first time in that year, Marty could just make out the sun setting over the water on the western horizon. It would have been great to watch, but he and Rulf by unspoken agreement had decided that if they could get this over with before night time truly set in all the better. Neither of them really wanted to be stuck down here with the Garens when night fell.

After another few shoves, the door scraped inwards with a horrific screech and the pair were able to squeeze inside the gap. Once inside the pair got out their torches and surveyed the scene. Marty hadn't realised it but he had been holding his breath. He now let it out in a big whoosh. The bunker wasn't big, but it was very full. Unable to move in case it was a mirage, Marty watched Rulf walk up to one of the shelves that lined the walls and ripped open a box stamped with the Shinra logo.

"What is it?" Marty asked in a quiet voice.

Rulf grinned holding up a couple of silver packets in his hand. He threw one to Marty who barely managed to catch it in a numb hand.

Marty read the label out loud. "Steak."

"Vacu sealed. It's a whole box of steak!"

Marty couldn't believe it. After all their bad luck, something had to be wrong. "Shouldn't it be bad?"

"Nah, I seen these kinds of supplies before. They treat it so it don't need cold an' vacuum seal it so it stays fresh. It's not like fresh tastin' rump but it's still got all the good stuff in it. You just gotta water it up and cook it. Lasts for decades packed up that way."

Rulf torn open another box and laughed at what he saw.

"Fuckin' strawberries, would you credit it? Freeze dried, still good. Who the fuck would want emergency strawberries in a pinch?"

Marty was still in a little shock, staring down at the silver packet in his hand with an unbelieving smile. "Executives probably. We'll probably find caviar and champagne if we keep digging."

"Well fancy food I can live with that's fa sure." Rulf shined his light around the many shelves and boxes. "Two of us ain't gonna be able to carry all this shit back ta Kalm, ya know. I was thinking we could ship it home, should be safe so long as we don't get too far out and the otha continent thinks we're invadin' or something."

"Junon doesn't exactly have spare boats just laying around. We'd probably have to get one from Kalm but it's a good idea. We can load up with whatever we can carry, head home, get a boat and come back. We'll just seal it back up. It's been here for this long undisturbed, it should be fine for another week or two."

"That's pretty optimistic, Mart."

"I think it's pretty safe to assume no one comes down to the undercity anymore. One look inside those houses would probably scare off any casual explorer anyway."

Rulf grinned again. "Better than a ''ware the dog' sign, that's fer fuckin' sure."

"C'mon, let's load up and get back to the house. We're suppose to meet Richard there in ten minutes."

Rulf obligingly started filling up his pack with a variety of different things. "Dick's dead, ya' know that right?"

Marty had also started stuffing things into his pack. "I find it's better not to even try to predict anything with that man."

*

Rufus could hear the prisoner's screams as he got closer to his target. It was a pity he couldn't see anything, but it was only a minor setback. He didn't need to see the Garens to know where they were. He had been right, there were seven of them. He knew this as absolutely as he knew that they also knew there was only one of him. They must know he was here, but they did nothing about it. He couldn't sense them closing in on him, he could still hear the people as they were worked over. If the Garens saw him as a threat, they weren't showing any indication of it.

For the first time, Rufus felt a little doubt about what he was doing. What had he really been planning to do? Kill them all and rescue the captives? Sure he'd sprung into action to help save that woman in Junon a couple of nights ago but it wasn't really the idea of saving her that had really been his primary objective. If he had to be honest, he had just wanted an excuse to kill someone. Rescuing the woman had just been an added bonus that he wasn't sure he cared whether he'd accomplished or not.

He supposed mostly that he was curious. And that was what he'd been excited about. They had been following these Garens across the entire continent for a week. Sometimes he'd get a sense of them, sometimes they'd be too far away. What was so different about them and him? He'd been in Midgar as long as any Garen, longer even. So why wasn't he there tearing people to shreds and eating flesh? What made them so different than him? Or was he not really so different after all? Maybe that's why they didn't attack him. Maybe he really was one of them…

So why didn't they idea of torturing people really do anything for him? Killing the deserving was one thing but mass slaughter of screaming defenceless people didn't push his buttons. He wanted a challenge, people who could fight back.

He stood there for a few moments listening to the screams and tried to work up an interest in it but he really just couldn't. He really just didn't care enough. And now he was bored.

Well there was one way to find out a lot of the answers to his questions. Rufus sheathed his sword and walked toward the screaming.

***

_Notes: okay, so this chapter was supposed to have more but it was getting a bit big so I cut it off there. It also might no be up to standard grammatically 'cause I pushed to get it posted asap. Next chapter will continue this day exactly where I left off and we'll conclude Rufus' day and also Vincent's and Reno's as well. Wasn't that one just a little ghastly. It was worse but I took some stuff out of the house scene 'cause it was getting a bit graphic even for me. I know it's probably not the most gruesome thing anyone has ever read, but it was a little more than the norm, hence the warning. _

I have what I hope is some good news for people. A friend of mine has recently convinced me that the fic needs more chapters. It was supposed to stop at ten but now it will at least be fifteen maybe twenty. You can thank or flame Sa for that, whichever you'd prefer.

_Thank you Leon again and others for the prompting. I swear I won't give up finishing this bar unforseen comas or death. And even then I think Sa would probably finish it anyway._

I do get a few kicks about not going faster sometimes and I apologise but I work funny hours at an unfunny job and have a life besides and both come before this fic. Sorry, but true. Also note that this fic is not the only one being finished by me so know I do tend to get at least two chapters out a month they're just often not for the same story. Know that I do appreciate the kicks but there is a place for it and it is on the mailing list. And if more people become a little more active there I might be persuaded to start previewing chapters and upcoming stuff to tide you all over till the actual chapters are released. You can find it at Yahoo Groups and it is called Neo Midgar News. Anyone can join and don't be afraid to post comments, reviews or kick my ass there. Please still review on though, reviews always give me that happy warm write more glow

_Ace_


	9. Old Pals

Do What You Will

By AF

Chapter 9

Old Pals

By Ace

After the initial beating, the man from the bar had given up the necessary information surprisingly quickly. He seemed to be the type of guy who liked dishing out the pain but was very unused to feeling it himself. He had caved after just a few smacks and some heartfelt (on Reno's part) threats of gruesome violence. Vincent had been pleased, Reno had not.

"You know," Reno commented sullenly as they left the body bleeding freely on the pavement in the alley next to the bar, "there is really no such thing as loyalty anymore. If he was a Turk, he would have been killed by his own comrades after selling them out so freely to the enemy."

"Turk loyalty isn't exactly infallible either. You did let us pass twice without a fight when you were with Shinra," Vincent pointed out. "I myself got shot for not doing as I was directed and challenging one of my superiors."

"Okay, point one; that was Hojo and doesn't count. That man was never any sane person's superior. Point two; the second time I let you pass I thought Shinra junior was in so many little bits across Midgar. As for the first time," Reno shrugged, "I was off duty."

Vincent didn't question how Reno knew about Hojo. Any Turk Leader worth his salt would've found out as much about his enemy as he could. And Vincent's file was probably right there in the Shinra records just waiting to be read.

"I don't think your points had quite the impact you were after."

"That's because you haven't heard point three yet. Which is that loyalty to Shinra is different from loyalty to your fellow Turks. If somebody had tortured me for days about the best way to kill Rufus when I was still at Shinra without any loss of Turk life I would've sketched them a flawless diagram of how to pull it off and shook their hands for good luck before breakfast on the first day. But if they'd wanted to take out another Turk I would have died first."

"If you hated Rufus so much, why didn't you ever sell him out?"

Reno shrugged again. "Nobody ever asked me to I guess. I would've never gone out of my way to set him up. I liked getting paid."

Vincent couldn't be certain, but he had the impression that Reno was lying to him. He just didn't know about which part.

Thankfully Reno only ranted for a few more minutes about the unreliability of your average goon these days before the pair lapsed into silence.

As it turned out the gang they were after had settled into the old Shinra offices in the top tier of the city which Reno had never bothered checking because he had found it inaccessible without power to the elevator that was usually the main way up there. Oh there was stairs up there too, but they had been taken out long again when Sapphire Weapon had attacked the city. But the enterprising gang had found a service access previously unknown to both ex-Turks. Apparently the mayor had it built as an escape route in case his precarious position with Shinra became even more precarious. It was an understandable paranoia to have seeing as Shinra tended to replace city mayors at their own whim when the old ones started to become too bothersome. The access was in an old now abandoned and raided warehouse hidden behind a fake but very heavy computer terminal in the main office.

The terminal had been moved from the wall and Reno opened the hatch and quickly stuck his head inside the small opening before drawing back.

"It's just a ladder like the guy said. Pretty fucking long one too, I could barely see any light coming down."

"And if he was telling the truth the top will be guarded by at least two men with guns aimed at about head height."

"Ever vigilant huh?" Reno snorted. "They're probably playing cards. They won't even notice if we're quiet enough."

"So your grand plan is just to go 'shhh' and hope they're deaf?"

"Plan?" Reno asked with a grin, "what plan?"

"Brilliant," Vincent muttered sarcastically. "Even if you were the fittest man in the world, which," Vincent said giving Reno a dubious once over look, "is highly doubtful, this tunnel is small, sound echoes and you will not even be able to breathe quietly enough after climbing that far."

"Can't you just fly up there?" Reno asked making flapping gestures with his hands.

"You mean change?"

"Sure. I've seen what you can become."

"Good, then you might also have noticed the massive wingspan on a creature seven foot tall then."

"Oh."

"Well then I guess we're just going to have to go with plan 'B' then," Reno concluded with a grin.

"There was ever a plan 'A'?"

But Reno was smiling in such a way that made Vincent realise Reno had been winding him up all along. Reno dug a hand into his pocket and fished out plan 'B' in all its deadly simplicity to show Vincent. Vincent had to admit, it wasn't a bad plan.

*

_"I can't believe you broke your foot playing soccer," Reno said shaking his head._

_"Might have had a little help from your__ foot if you remember correctly," Rufus returned sourly._

_Reno had practically kicked him and the ball into said foot causing Rufus to fall funny and apparently break something in the foot. Well, Rufus assumed it was broken. He couldn't move it in certain ways, it was massively swollen and had a funny click every time he did try to move it. And the pain was a good indication too. But Reno was right, he couldn't quite understand how it had happened. He'd been out playing whatever sport took their fancy at the time quite a bit with Reno lately on Tseng's orders. Either because Reno was getting on his nerves as he often did where there was little physical activity to keep him interested or when Rufus' and Reno's bickering got to such a state where Tseng ordered them to work it off or he would shoot the both of them._

_Both men were highly competitive and often friendly sport turned physically dangerous. Not that they were even really friends so 'friendly' might have been an optimistic way to describe it to begin with. But nothing ever got broken or even really bruised for that matter and he'd taken far worse spills that the one today._

_Reno had finally deigned to take him to the hospital where he could get it checked out and the waiting was starting the get on both their nerves. Rufus had never been a normal hospital before because Shinra had its own private facilities and if he'd realised he'd have to wait so long to see a doctor he would have went straight there instead. At least here they'd given him something for the pain while he waited and if they could only give Reno something to knock him out so he wouldn't keep on at him about how delicate he was he'd feel about a hundred times better in no time._

_Rufus was sitting on a bed in the emergency department and Reno was pacing in front of him when the new Turk's phone rang._

_Reno flipped it open. _

_"Heya boss. Yeah I know we're late. Precious hurt himself. What? We're at the hospital. What do you mean which one? Midgar hospital. I don't get it, why is that such a deal. Broke his foot apparently, he's fine. Why bother?"_

_It was at that moment that Tseng must have hung up on him because Reno spent some confused moments staring at his phone before stuffing it into his pocket again._

_"Tseng's coming to get us. We can't wait for the doctor."_

_"What?"_

_Reno shrugged. "I dunno. Why aren't you allowed to see regular doctors?"_

_Rufus was a little surprised at the question. "I didn't know I wasn't."_

_"Well, Tseng seems to be under the impression you can't. C'mon I'll get you a wheelchair or something. We have to leave. Now."_

*

Rufus walked out of the densely dusty air into an area made clearer because it was open to the ocean side of a house that was getting the benefit of a mild ocean breeze. The air was still hot and dry, and the smell was a little better. But that was because any dead meat here was a lot fresher than what had been left in almost all the houses in the town behind him.

The Garens watched him come. Some had paused in their meal of whoever that had been but remained hunched next to the meat without any hint of aggravation at Rufus' trespass.

Rufus watched them all as they watched him, neither side seeming to want to move just yet. But it wasn't a stand off, as far as Rufus was concerned they were all calm but not like he was one of them either.

They weren't monsters they were just people. Crazed sure, but not mutated. The skin was a little grayer perhaps than normal but still just people. Well maybe except for the really bright glowing eyes.

There were a few people still alive. The Garens had them tied to the poles of the house patio. Some were crying quietly, other were just staring off into space but a few were watching Rufus with pathetic hope in their eyes that maybe this newcomer was their saviour. There were about eight prisoners in all and Rufus had the unimpressed feeling that he was supposed to save them.

He debated whether he would bother for a while before ultimately deciding that it was probably what he was meant to be doing. Though when he took a step toward them one of the Garens moved quickly to stand in front of him. Rufus was impressed with the speed.

"Mine," the Garen told him simply without any aggressive note in his voice.

Rufus grinned and shook his head. "I'd have to disagree."

The Garen cocked his head to the side and regarded Rufus carefully with those bright glowing green eyes.

"One of us?"

This was interesting to Rufus. The Garen couldn't decide if Rufus was one like them or not. It was interesting because it was something Rufus wasn't sure about either.

"You tell me."

The Garen took a step closer watching Rufus and even sniffing the air around him a little as though he could smell the mako poisoning Rufus' body.

"Yes, no, different. Leader?"

Rufus didn't really understand what he was asking. Did this Garen somehow recognise what he used to be before he'd died that first time? Probably not. After all the Garens didn't even seem to understand that eating people was not the normal practise for a human being not to mention their apparent inability to construct a proper sentence either. It was entirely possible that this Garen was asking him if Rufus was taking over the gang.

"Why me?"

"Purpose."

As far as Rufus was aware he was not a mind reader. He was lost as to what the Garen was hinting at and he was getting bored with the lack of explanation and with entire confrontation to be honest.

"My only purpose at the moment is to take those people away. I will kill you all to do so."

"Why?" The Garen asked with confusion.

"I am bored. Fighting would help with that."

The Garen shook his head like Rufus had missed the point. "Why take?"

That was a pretty good point. "I guess because I'm supposed to."

"This is purpose?"

Rufus shrugged. "Sure, why not."

"What do?"

"With them? Well I just assumed they'd do something with themselves."

Rufus may have been tiring of the questions but he was starting to gain insight into what this Garen meant when he kept going on about purpose. He had to remind himself that although he really must be different to these freaks, they were all children of Midgar and Rufus' own feelings of listlessness and boredom were clearly shared by these Garens. Essentially this Garen thought Rufus had a purpose in life because Rufus was different from them yet the same kind of being at the same time. In a way Rufus shared the violent drive they had as a way to occupy his mind, keep his thoughts in the present and give his now seemingly directionless life some meaning. A purpose in fact, a reason to keep going in the here and now. These Garens were doing over the top violent and deranged things that would have disgusted them as humans to keep their new lives real and keep the shadows of the past from overwhelming them…either that or they were just lunatics of course. Resorting to violence to keep your focus wasn't probably the first thing a sane person would do.

"You want a purpose?" Rufus asked him.

The Garen nodded.

"How about not eating meat? I hear the vegetarian option is a lot more healthy."

The Garen didn't look impressed. "Play with meat. Fun."

"Try Scrabble. I know you can't beat, rape or eat the game pieces but it will help you with your vocabulary."

The way the Garen looked at him he might as well have been speaking Wutaian. He obviously thought Rufus wasn't getting the point.

He shuffled over toward the prisoners gesturing toward one of the women. "Play. Fun."

To enter into the spirit of cultural exchange, Rufus entertained the idea for a moment. But no matter how much he thought about it he just couldn't get excited by the prospect. Hurting people who were cowering just didn't do it for him. He couldn't even get aroused at the idea of sex after going so long without it which he found a little mystifying. He remembered that he'd enjoyed sex as often as he could in his other life but he just couldn't summon up any emotion other than vague disinterest. Sure he'd never had a taste for rape before but he wasn't certain that was what was wrong with him now. Maybe all that mako had chemically castrated him or something. He didn't especially care either way.

"She's not my type."

The Garen gestured toward somebody else.

"No he isn't either."

The Garen looked confused.

Rufus heaved a sigh. "Are we gonna fight, or are you going to let them go?"

"Keep two?"

Rufus thought it over for a moment. He wanted to fight, but he was running out of time to meet up with the others. Besides, he'd really come looking for a proper fight with vicious bloodthirsty monsters. These Garens just didn't seem up to it.

"You can keep one."

The Garen actually smiled. "Yes, Leader."

Rufus didn't really know what to say about that. "Keep that one. He looks like he's mind's already somewhere else."

The Garen cut the ropes on the others holding them down and together they managed to stagger to Rufus, their new saviour. One woman was so grateful she ran over and hugged him.

"Thank you, thank you."

He pushed her away.

"Don't touch me."

Rufus retreated into the dust at the other side of the house and managed to lose his freed prisoners in the process. Something he was distinctly happy about. He wondered how long it would take the Garens to round them up again. Probably not long. No doubt the smarter ones would get away before the Garens got bored again. He realised then he'd only just given them something else to do. A new purpose in recapturing them. He wondered if that was why it had been so easy in the first place. Though it was entirely possible the Garens weren't that smart.

He met up with Marty and Rulf in front of the house and together made their way back to the elevator.

"Did you find them?" Marty asked him as they walked.

Rufus nodded.

Marty looked surprised. "Any survivors?"

"I rescued seven."

Now he was shocked. "And yet you aren't dead."

"I owe you twenty," Rulf told Marty."

"How did you rescue them?"

Rufus shrugged like it was no big deal. It really wasn't for him. "I asked after they envied my purpose in life and made me their leader. I didn't even get to fight."

Marty was silent till they got back to the elevator and stepped inside. He seemed lost in shocked thought.

"You know," he said eventually, "that's really very disturbing."

*

The guard yawned a readjusted his perch on his stool in an effort to regain the feeling lost in his left butt cheek. Guard duty was so boring. Nobody knew about the long forgotten tunnel and there was no reason to expect an attack from a rival gang at any moment but since they had yet to weld a new cover in place over the tunnel the boss had expected there to be two guards covering the hole at all times. And so he here was, guarding.

Eddie snorted once and woke himself up. The second guard straightened on his perch and rubbed his face. How Eddie ever managed to go to sleep sitting on a stool was a mystery to his friend and he envied him the skill.

A clink from the tunnel made them both sit up straighter though and get to their feet. It wasn't a big alarm, they were expecting someone back anytime now and only got to their feet in order to look alert. Whoever it was though sounded like they were coming up fast though and the first guard watched Eddie walk over to the hole and peer down.

"Ray, that you?"

Instead of a vocal answer a small something sailed up out of the hole to land at Eddie's feet. The both were a little surprised and only had a moment to freak out before they were both engulfed in the explosion as the grenade went off in their faces.

Once the air had settled a head rose out of the hole to peer around at his surroundings before hauling himself up and out and moving away to make room for a second person right behind him.

"Ya think the rest of 'em heard that?" Reno asked with a highly amused grin.

"I think most of Junon heard that."

Reno threw away the small piece of scrap metal he'd used as a shield from the explosion and pulled a handgun out of the waist of his pants. Luckily they hadn't been in much danger from the blast anyway.

"Well we better get to it then."

Really it should have been harder. That was Vincent's impression anyway. This gang had been here at least for a month or so and yet their security and structure were woefully inadequate against any sort of incursion. From what little Reno had told him about Elena's capture he assumed that she had come up here and been captured and in the process. He just wasn't entirely sure how. Sure she hadn't been the most formidable foe from what Vincent remembered from fighting her but she hadn't been a pushover either. Though he had to admit, going through the place with Reno might just make it seem a lot easier than it really was. He was surprised to realise how easy he found it to work with the other ex-Turk now that Reno had found some focus in what he was doing and wasn't ranting, being impatient or just being a plain smart ass. He had wondered initially how Tseng could have ever accepted someone like Reno into the Turks to begin with but he believed he was seeing why now. Sure one on one, Reno didn't seem like the best fighter in the world but his instincts and stealth made him almost as good as Vincent in this situation. It helped no end that they had had similar training too. Vincent had trained Tseng and Tseng had trained Reno and therefore they were able to move and act with a single-mindedness that for the first time since his first few weeks as a Turk made Vincent feel a little homesick for the world he had left behind and his place in that world. They had so far made it through half the compound without injury or really fighting very much at all.

At present Reno was waving at him from the opposite side of the doorway they were crouched behind in such a way that made Vincent realise he had been lost in his own little world for perhaps a little too long. Finally seeing he had Vincent's attention Reno starting signalling to him using his hands and fingers in a silent language developed by the Turks and used to communicate when they couldn't talk. Vincent was a little rusty with the signs and had to get Reno to repeat a few before he got the message. Especially the part at the beginning where Reno had apparently told him off for his lack of focus.

The gist was, "I think there are five but sounds like they're eating dinner so it should be easy to kill them. Get the first two on your side, I'll get mine and whoever gets the fifth gets a prize. Ready?"

Vincent signalled back that he was indeed ready (though due to his rusty grasp of signalling and Reno's slightly puzzled expression he could have just told Reno that he was a fish) the two nodded to each other and kicked open the double doors in unison.

A quick look at the room and Vincent found his targets. He got his first two while they were still seated and shot a third in the chest almost at the same time Reno did.

Not knowing whether there were more people around the pair worked their way over to the only other door in the room and pressed their backs to the wall. Their precaution paid off a few moments later when they heard the sound of booted feet hustling down the hall outside. Vincent signalled to Reno that he heard two pairs of boots and Reno nodded. The first man swung the door open and immediately pitched headlong into the room as Reno's foot tripped him up on the way in. Reno stepped toward the man and away from the wall as the second man came in giving Vincent the opportunity to punch the second man in the nose. Reno knelt by the prone man on the floor as if nothing had happened behind him, pulled a knife from his boot, lifted up man's head by his hair and slit his throat neatly. Meanwhile Vincent had the second man spun around and pinned bodily against the wall.

"You felt the need to start being quiet now?" Vincent asked surprised that Reno hadn't just simply shot the man.

After a moment of listening to the hall outside Reno came back into the room and knelt once more to wipe his blade on the shirt of the man he'd just killed.

"Not really, just the need to preserve bullets. Didn't think twice about making a noise when we came in here 'cause I thought everybody would have heard us coming in what with the explosion and all."

The man Vincent had caught had started to slump a little so Vincent let him go to land on his butt on the floor.

"Make a sound and you die," Vincent warned him. He probably didn't have to bother. It looked like Vincent had probably hit him a little too hard and the subsequent run into the wall hadn't done the guy any favours either.

Instead he focussed back on Reno's puzzled frown. "That bothered me too. They must have heard the explosion, why were they sitting down to eat dinner like nothing was happening?"

Reno seemed to think it over for a moment but ultimately shrugged. "I'm sure answers will present themselves. 'Sides, I don't really care."

Vincent had to agree.

Reno knelt down by their captive and waved a knife under the man's nose. Eventually the dopey man caught sight of it and watched the blade with the focus of a man who has just been woken up with a very sharp blade inches away from his eye.

"Look we need some info," Reno told him conversationally. "You guys have a prisoner here. Pretty, blond woman, talk your ear off given half the chance. Know who I'm talking about?"

Vincent went over to the doorway to watch out while Reno continued his questioning of the man. It didn't take long to get the answers they needed and then at the end of it, Reno surprised Vincent by not killing his captive. He knocked him out with a blow from the knife handle and let the man slump to the ground.

When Vincent raised a questioning eyebrow at him Reno just snorted and put his knife away.

"That kid had to be like fifteen. As if you would have killed him."

"I wouldn't have, but I am still surprised that you would show compassion."

"Look there are plenty of other goons to kill here so if you can get past the 'oh Reno I never knew you had a softer side' we can go ahead and kill them and get El alright, or do you wanna hump my leg first?"

"Have you ever actually had any friends in your entire life?" Vincent asked him.

"Actually yes, but only one of the is still alive. So shall we?"

They weren't far away from where the boy said they were keeping their prisoner when Vincent halted next to another doorway and signalled to Reno to be quiet and come closer so he could hear what Vincent was hearing.

"…yeah, well it wasn't me, nothing went off in here."

"I sent some men down to the hole to investigate but they haven't come back yet."

"That can't be good."

"Pack up everything you can just in case. She might have been telling the truth when she said people would come looking for her."

"You're the boss. What you gonna do about her?"

"She's been fun to have around but I sent Mike down to kill her and get rid of the body, just in case."

Vincent turned to look at Reno to suggest a tactic but the look on Reno's face made him realise that the other man wasn't really paying attention to him anymore. Reno's face was hard, eyes cold. He went to run off toward the cells when Vincent grabbed his arm.

Reno shrugged him off and signalled to him to take care of these men while he went ahead.

Well, it was what Vincent was going to do anyhow. When Reno disappeared from sight, Vincent stepped into the room, gun out and trained on the two shocked men.

"I have questions."

Reno sprinted down the hallway only being slowed once when someone who heard him coming stepped out in front of him. Reno shot him without having to slow down too much and came into the cell area and high speed. There was only one man here, he had a set of keys in his hand. Reno shot him too and bent to take the keys after making sure the man wasn't getting up again.

It wasn't much of a cell area. The original building didn't have them up this high and was actually a group of separate offices along a narrow hallway. Only one 'cell' was closed and Reno used the key to open it.

What he saw made him bite down on his tongue. The room was devoid of past furniture, filthy, mouldy and mostly darkened. By the light of the hall he could see the shape of a woman lying with her back to the door up against the far wall, also filthy and naked.

He made himself walk toward her, half fearing she was already dead. And when he crouched down and touched the bare skin of her back she was almost as cold as a corpse too. Except for the sharp intake of breath at the touch.

"No more, please."

It was hardly words really, just a rasp that was almost unintelligible.

"El, it's me. C'mon I've come to get you out of here."

She shivered. "I'm dreaming."

Reno took off his shirt and draped it over her. "I've never been known to be the man of any woman's dreams before, El," he told her gently. "I doubt that's gonna change anytime soon."

Elena rolled over a little to squint up at him. "Reno?"

"One and only."

"Reno!"

She must have been in a lot of pain but she managed throw herself into his arms where she started crying. Reno just held her and stroked her hair, jaw clenched.

"I knew you'd come for me. I told them you'd come. I told them you'd kill them all!"

"It's me," Reno called before he stepped through the door so Vincent wouldn't shoot him.

Vincent saw Elena being carried by Reno, her head buried in his chest. She wasn't moving, but she didn't seem to be dead either. She was wearing Reno's shirt.

He mumbled something to her and she nodded slightly. He set her down into a chair by the door and took his gun out of the waistband of his jeans. It was unnecessary since Vincent had both men covered, but Reno obviously didn't want to keep them covered. He shot one man without any preamble and then pointed his gun at the other. Vincent sighed, he had been trying to get information out of them, but pointing that out to Reno in his mood would probably accomplish nothing.

"You the boss?" Reno asked the remaining man.

He nodded, now obviously terrified.

"She told you someone would come looking. She told you that when I did you would all die."

He nodded again.

"She was right."

Then Reno shot him in the head.

Vincent lowered his gun. "I found out why the explosion didn't really alert anyone if you're interested."

"Not really."

"They were trying to build a mako bomb."

"A bomb?"

"Apparently Scarlet kept a lot of her work out here because this is where she developed and tested most of her weapons. They weren't having a lot of luck making it work hence why the occasional explosion isn't such a big deal around here."

"Yeah, right. I knew I didn't care at all. We're leaving now by the way."

"I don't think we should leave this stuff here. It could be dangerous."

"These guys aren't geniuses. They'll probably just blow themselves up. Look if you're concerned just set fire to it all."

Vincent nodded. There was no way they could get all this equipment and files out of here anyway. Not carrying Elena.

"Get Reeve's files."

Vincent hadn't been sure he'd heard anything at first. But Reno had heard her.

"Look he's gone El, you can't help him now," Reno told her gently.

Elena raised her head to look at Reno. Her face had been cut with something not particularly sharp down the side of her face. The swelling had closed one of her eyes almost completely but her other eye was focused on Reno with a certain determination. "Get it. It's what I came for. Can't have been for nothing."

Reno looked reluctant but still turned to Vincent and asked, "Found anything that looks like Reeve's work?"

"No. But I haven't been looking."

"Second filing cabinet. Top draw," Elena murmured closing her eye again.

Vincent found the file and a computer disk and handed it to Reno.

"You keep it, I gotta carry…"

"It would be better if I did it. You won't get her down that shaft. I can get her down another way."

Vincent knew Reno was about to ask how but he shut his mouth instead and tucked the files under his arm. "Just be careful with her."

After piling up a few of the papers in a heap in the middle of the room and setting a small blaze going, they went back to another room they had passed on the way in. Vincent set Elena down on the floor away from the large ceiling high boarded up window.

"Ah," Reno said with understanding. Together, he and Reno prised the boards off the window and retreated a few steps while Reno picked up an overturned chair.

"Okay go."

Vincent shot the glass a couple of times and then Reno threw the chair at the cracked glass. The window shattered and they spent the next few moments knocking the rest of the shards out of the frame.

Then Vincent stopped in the middle of the room and bowed his head. It took a while but eventually the air began to shimmer and Vincent changed into Chaos.

Once changed he came back and picked Elena up surprisingly gently for something so fearsome looking. He walked over to the window and without a backwards glance just stepped out of it.

Reno fought the urge to go and check for splattered remains on the pavement below and hurried back toward the ladder tunnel.

***

_Notes; so now that the rescue is finally over we get another little plot breadcrumb to follow, yay. Vincent and Reno's rescue initially was supposed to go for a little longer but I cut it for boredom's sake. There is only so many interesting ways to shoot someone and I realised halfway through that I had forgotten Reno's nightstick but kept going anyway cause to me once I'd started it seemed a little more dark if he was just shooting everything that move. I don't think I managed to convey any sort of darkness for him really though. I had wanted him really cut up about Elena but I'm not sure I achieved it too well 'cause he just kept making jokes all the time! Not my fault I swear. Oh well, hopefully it still worked for you. Rufus' confrontation with the Garens went somewhere not completely expected either and I'm very curious to see what you thought about that. I had wanted a gruesome fight for the very first catch up with the Garens but apart from style it pretty much conveyed everything I had wanted it to. _

_Anyway, lateness again I know. I know! Work sucks and being busy during Christmas time extra sucks. But I made this an almost double chapter as an extra Christmas bonus for you all and your patience. Thank you. I think now I can definitely get this up to fifteen chapters now at the very minimum and will push for twenty now that Sa has given me some pointers and for those of you who do want to contact me you can email at: - sorry i cannot add my email address apparently it is naughty to do so on this site. If you are that keen to know I will show my address of AF's profile. Thanks._

_that way you can poke me directly instead of on the reviews. Or you can poke me publicly on the mailing list at Yahoo Groups, Neo Midgar News. If you have any questions or comments feel free to mail or post I welcome them as well as the occasional "you still alive?" question._

_Cheers!_


	10. New Alliances

Do What You Will

By AF

Chapter 10

New Alliances

By Ace

"What do you mean he just talked to them?"

Marty shrugged in the middle of repacking a bag full of supplies. "He said they made him their leader."

Vincent frowned, "That's…troubling."

"Tell me about it. Rufus went over there to get into a fight, instead he talks to them. Since when does Rufus talk rather than fight?"

"That's the part that's troubling me actually."

Both men looked over at Rufus who was staring out one of the windows across the room. It was dark now and there would be nothing for him to see outside but he was staring none the less.

"A lot of things trouble me about Rufus," Marty confessed quietly.

Reno chose that moment to wander back into the room. He had been in with Elena since he and Vincent had returned, tending to her wounds.

"She wants to see you," Reno told Vincent shortly. He clearly wasn't happy about this development.

Vincent nodded and to Marty's surprise motioned for him to follow. Marty got up and followed Vincent and Reno back into what passed for Reno's bedroom. Elena was lying on the bed propped up by blankets and other bedding so she could sit up. She looked horrible.

One eye was swollen shut; an angry looking cut ran from her temple to her jaw line. The other side of her jaw was purple and swollen as well. And that's just what Marty could see of her. She was wearing a garish shirt, obviously Reno's that was too big for her and covered most of her upper body. The lower half was covered under more blankets.

Vincent seemed at a loss for words and Marty couldn't blame him. What did you say? How are they feeling? Stupid question when she was quite obviously feeling like absolute shit.

Elena was the one who broke the silence.

"You may not believe me, but I've very happy to see you," Elena told Vincent. Her words were a little raspy but easy enough to understand.

"Not that difficult," Vincent replied.

"It seems so silly now doesn't it? I used to hate you guys for what you were doing but in light of the present, the past just seems so meaningless. You helped Reno get me out of there, of course I'm grateful. But that's not really why I asked you in here. I suppose Reno didn't really go into detail about what I was doing there in the first place."

A sullen looking Reno snorted from the corner of the room where he was leaning against the wall. "Does it really matter?"

"Of course it matters, Reeve's plan could save us all."

"Um, what plan?" Marty asked hesitantly.

"A couple of years ago Reeve was looking into the idea of getting rid of the pollution clouds over Midgar. The clouds were just a by-product of the mako refinement in the reactors anyway and because Midgar had so many of them, the pollution was becoming permanent. A scientist named Quinn was working with Reeve and his rector knowledge in order to add a chemical to the process of mako refinement which would be carried up into the air with the normal reactor exhaust and neutralise the pollution making elements once they hit the atmosphere. At least that's what I think it was about. I'm not a scientist or an engineer; I'm only going off what I remember from what Reeve was telling us. The project was stopped before it could be implemented back then because the reactor where they were to trial it was blown up before completion. By Avalanche actually. Anyway, he has the idea that this process could still be used to help clear the air. I know that most of the problem is the dust but Reeve thought that most of the reason why the wind wouldn't carry the dust away and why it was only localised mainly over this continent was because the impact site of Meteor was Midgar and the heavily weighted properties of the polluted air was making it harder for normal wind patterns to disperse the dust like it usually might. Even the dirt around Midgar was heavily polluted."

"Prevailing wind patterns and the qualities of mako polluted air isn't really my speciality I am forced to admit, but that seems a little far fetched to me."

Elena shook her head a little. "You had to be there when he was explaining it. He sounded so sure. But he needed his research notes. He's not a scientist, he needed what he had planned with Quinn to get started and he only had copies of his backup notes in Junon or in Midgar. Naturally nobody wants to spend too much time in the debris of Midgar so he asked for our help to get him his notes. Reno told him he wouldn't help."

"Oh c'mon!" Reno interrupted, "the guy was loony. He was just wanting to be the hero again. That plan was untried and ridiculous!"

"No all of us thought so," Elena said quietly. "I decided to help him. He'd already left for Midgar by then but I thought I could go steal the files and catch up with him pretty quickly. I guess you can see that I was a little off there. They weren't the most skilled or organised group in the world but there were so many of them. I got captured, obviously." Elena's eyes lost their focus for a moment and Reno was in the process of going over to her when she seemed to shake off the memory. "But now you're here. You can take the files to him and help him."

Reno responded with, "If he's even alive. Reeve likes to play the hero, but he's not one. He probably got two steps out of Junon and dropped dead from an acute case of monsters. The most physical exercise he's even gotten in his life was crawling around inside reactors; he's not really the fight for your life type. I gave him a gun for old friendship sake but I doubt me if he's ever fired one in his life."

"That's why he needs your help Vincent," Elena told him. "You have to go after him."

*

So far Vincent hadn't agreed to anything. Marty had been a little surprised about that actually. If he and Reeve had been in Avalanche together like Vincent had told him, that made them friends right? Even if Reeve was off his rocker like Reno suggested, comradeship had to count for something. Didn't it?

Either way, the pair had left Reno and Elena to their privacy and come back into the main room to update Rufus and Rulf on the situation. Whatever reaction Marty could have imagined from either person, both surprised him.

"Do ya' really think he can do it?" Rulf asked them in a rather subdued tone.

Marty shrugged. "To be honest, it sounds kinda vague, but I've seen stranger things in this world, that's for sure."

"He shouldn't do that," was Rufus' reaction. "He doesn't know what he's doing."

Vincent looked at Rufus strangely. "Why not? Do you think he might make things worse?"

"Absolutely."

Well that was…definite.

"Can't make things any worse I reckon," Rulf told the world in general.

"I'm going to help him, if I can," Marty told them.

Apparently his reaction was surprising to the others too to judge by the looks they were giving him.

"Me too," Rulf said after a moment. "If this works…can ya imagine it?"

Vincent sighed. "I think you are all getting a little carried away by fairytales."

"So you aren't going to help?" Marty asked Vincent.

"I have other things to consider."

"Isn't Reeve your friend?"

Vincent frowned. "Not really."

"Didn't ya fight together to bring down Sephiroth an' all that?" Rulf put in.

"Sort of."

"How can you 'sort of' fight together?" Marty asked perplexed.

Vincent didn't look happy about going into details he obviously felt were unnecessary but did say, "He controlled a robot that fought with us. Eventually. I've never actually met him in person."

"Eventually?"

"He was my spy first," Rufus told them with a rather wistful expression. Then with a slightly angrier one, "but then betrayed me in order to help Avalanche save the world or whatever his reasoning was. I had hoped Scarlet or Heidiggar had killed him. But now it looks like he's planning on ruining everything again."

"How can you so vehemently think that his plan will fail?" Marty asked Rufus sharply. He instantly regretted his tone though as Rufus looked at him sharply.

"What makes you think that I believe he will fail?"

Marty didn't quite get the meaning at first. Why the hell would Rufus be afraid that Reeve might succeed after all? But then he realised that Rufus was thinking that Reeve was just going to make their situation worse instead.

"Like Rulf said, how can he possibly make things worse than they already are? Everyone on this continent is starving or killing each other off. Maybe one day we might get to go over to the other continent, but after our little Garen reminder I'm starting to think that over crowding wasn't their biggest concern when they shut the borders. Half the people here are mindless greedy savages and those ones haven't even been affected by mako yet. If Reeve was right and the very air is filled with pollutants, maybe it's only a matter of time before we all get sick just like those guys in Midgar did."

"A little dark isn't it Mart?"

"Maybe people on the other continents realised it before we did. Maybe they're just waiting for us all to go crazy and die."

Marty knew he was being paranoid, but once the idea formed, he couldn't quite shake the notion that he was onto something. Even more disturbingly, out of the three people listening to him, only Rulf seemed shocked or surprised by his hypothesis.

"There might be other solutions," Vincent told him eventually.

"Gee ya wanta vague that up a bit more?" Rulf asked him sarcastically.

"So, even if there is, I'm not just going to sit around and wait for plan 'b' to eventuate before plan 'a' has even been tried. C'mon Vincent, you can survive in Midgar better than anyone I've ever seen with the possible exception of Rufus. Whether you help us or not could be crucial."

"Then take Rufus," Vincent replied simply.

"You can correct me if I'm wrong," Marty said to Rufus, "but I get the impression you don't want to help."

Rufus gave him a half smile, "Whatever gave you that idea? Just because I'm having very vivid daydreams about kill Reeve at this very moment, doesn't mean I don't want to go to Midgar."

"I believe the key word was 'help' Reeve, not 'maim'."

"You always assume that maiming _isn't_ helping some people."

Marty chose that moment to ignore Rufus. "Look, at least sleep on the idea," he told Vincent. "You might feel better about it in the morning. You know, in the semi light of the horrific possibly poisonous dust cloud hanging over the city."

"Subtle."

*

Rufus waited till the others were asleep. Before he got up silently and made his way out of the building. On the street there were no people wandering around. At least, none that Rufus could see. That was a little disappointing. But still, he must look on the bright side.

Purpose. That really was the key. Life or death (he still hadn't decided what category he was in) needed purpose. Otherwise all you were was some pointless wandering entity trying to stimulate your senses with whatever dross could keep you entertained or to make you feel any other emotion except bleakness and self loathing.

The Garens had thought he'd had purpose. Because he had a goal, but he hadn't. Not really. The others had a goal, he was just helping them fulfil it. And that had suited him for a while. But now he couldn't even muster up any slight amusement in what they were planning to do because for once he was rather angrily against what they wanted to do.

Help Reeve? Yeah right, sure, that'll happen. Despite what Marty thought, he didn't think Reeve was going to stuff anything up. He knew Reeve, knew the man wasn't a hero type, but also knew he could be resourceful and persistent enough to get a job done once he'd set his mind to it. Reeve also knew the inner workings of those reactors like he'd built them himself and that scared Rufus more than anything at the moment. Reeve would probably succeed, or if he didn't somebody else would complete his work and that was not okay as far as Rufus was concerned.

For the first time ever, Rufus felt like he was living in the real world. Or rather, that he'd been living in the real world and nobody else had been till Meteor had come. He had never left Midgar very often before but he remembered that when he did, the sky had seemed too vast and alien. Stars, natural light were all alien concepts. Midgar felt right, running lights day and night, semi-dark from pollution even at noon, that is what had been natural to him growing up. And now the whole continent was the same. No stars, no real day. Rufus felt at home everywhere now.

Marty had been right about one thing though. There was mako in the air, in the dust that got everywhere. Rufus could practically smell it. Just like home. And now everyone saw the world as he had, and soon everyone would exist the same way he now existed. Their minds would see the world as he did. It was perfect. When he was younger he'd wanted someone to feel as he had. Someone to empathise with. Now everyone would.

Now all he had to do was beat the others to Midgar and stop Reeve and his plans permanently. Sure he could have killed them all while they slept. But for once he'd been uncertain in his skills enough to not want to risk it. Vincent was the main problem. If Vincent heard him, he'd try to stop him. He thought he could just about manage to kill his old friend, but he couldn't risk it with so many people around. Vincent had backup. And now, Rufus needed backup.

He made his way easily down to the lower city. The Garens were just where he'd left them. They either didn't sense his approach or didn't care. The Garen he'd spoken to before was sitting next to a fire, watching him as he made him way back into the camp. The other Garens were mostly sleeping. Some weren't but because of the darkness all Rufus could see were some moving shapes and crying prisoners. It seemed they had reclaimed some of their lost captives after all.

Rufus stopped by the Garen next to the fire and tried to force a smile that for some reason wouldn't come. "I've come to give you purpose."

*

Marty was woken the next morning by a kick in the ribs.

"Fuck orf!"

"Mart, wake up, we might 'ave a problem."

Not the best words to wake up to, and normally they might have kicked his brain into gear immediately. But considering what his life was like these days and the fact that Rulf didn't sound particularly hurt and just mildly worried, Marty just rolled over and ignored him completely.

He got another kick. Harder this time.

"Mart!"

"Alright, alright! Fuck! Gods forbid I get more than four hours of sleep at a time."

He sat up and rubbed his closed eyes with his fingers. He was still so tired he could barely think. When he eventually opened his eyes though to see the concerned look on his friend's faces it was enough to wake him up fully. Nothing sobers you quicker than a big dose of bad news to start your morning off with.

"Rufus is gone," Vincent informed him.

Well maybe the news wasn't _that_ bad. "Um…"

"This is not a good thing," Vincent told him helpfully.

"I was beginning to wonder," Marty muttered. "But why exactly is this such a bad thing?" He inquired with as much tact as he could muster.

"Considering our conversation last night and the fact that Rufus seemed not entirely happy with Reeve's plan, I think we can safely assume that he hasn't just wandered off for no reason."

"You think he's going to try and stop Reeve?"

"Rather terminally I fear."

"Look how sure can you be that he didn't just see something shiny out the window and wander off? I wouldn't put it past him," Marty volunteered.

"He's been gone fer five hours now, Mart. He ain't coming back," Rulf told him.

"Fuck."

"Yeah, tha's pretty much what we were thinkin' too."

Marty moved his head around a little till he felt that satisfying crack in his neck. "So I guess we're going now?"

"Yup. Reno's coming."

"More bad news?" Marty asked sarcastically.

Rulf smiled a little at that. Obviously their host here in Junon wasn't winning too many friends. "That Elena chick made 'im promise. Surprised tha argument didn' wake ya up. We're gunna go pick 'im up on tha way."

*

Marty stood back with Vincent and watched the scene curiously. Obviously there had been something they had been missing in the time they had spent with Reno. A lot of things were starting to make sense.

They watched the two ex-Turks on the semi-deserted pier talking quietly to each other 50 yards down on the dock next to a small fishing boat. They were holding hands.

"Maybe it's not what we think," Marty offered.

They watched the pair embrace.

"They're pretty close friends then."

They watched them kiss.

"Okay so maybe not just friends then," Marty concluded.

"It accounts for how freely he gave you the information about the bunkers, at least," Vincent said.

"Cor," Rulf said coming up beside Marty, bag packed and slung over his shoulder. "If he got 'is tongue any furtha down 'er throat he'd taste what she 'ad for breakfast."

"Thanks, Rulf, that was very…descriptive, thank you," Vincent told him dryly.

The two finally parted and Reno stood on the dock and watched the fishermen help Elena onto the boat. He even stayed to watch as the boat pulled away and headed out to sea.

Eventually, hands jammed into his pockets Reno wandered back up to the group, staring at his feet while he walked. Therefore he didn't see the expressions on their faces till he was standing right in front of them.

"Enjoying the show were you?" Reno asked them.

"Oh the practical dry humping on the dock, nah, couldn't give a shit," Marty told him bluntly. "More wondering where she's off to."

"That was a guy I know. He's from the western continent and knows the patrols like the back of his hand. He's taking her over there."

All three were a little surprised by that statement. "What really?"

"Costs an arm and a leg, but money is still worth something over there. He owed me a favour."

"You aren't going with her?"

"Not enough money. And besides, he'll only take one at a time. Less suspect that way. Apparently. But at least she's safe now."

"Never picked you for the noble one," Vincent told him.

"Go fuck yourself," Reno told him pleasantly.

"If you girls 'ave finished tha tea party, can we get goin' now? Dick's got a lot a ground on us an' we got us some catchin' up ta do." Rulf told them all.

They all picked up their things and made ready to head back to Midgar.

"You know," Marty told Rulf, "you don't have to call him that anymore. He's not here and we certainly don't have to protect him now."

"Makes me feel better," Rulf replied in a surly tone.

***

_To be continued…_


	11. Back To Midgar

Do What You Will

Chapter 11

Back to Midgar

Marty wasn't thrilled. He wasn't enjoying a great number of things about this journey. The first and foremost thing that was bothering him was the idea of the journey's end. Midgar.

"I really hate Midgar," Marty said out loud.

Rulf grunted in agreement.

The next on his list of ire was whom they were chasing back to Midgar. Rufus. Sad deranged Rufus Shinra who, according to both Vincent and Reno was both Soldier and Turk trained and currently super dosed with mako.

And there was no clear way Marty could see that would enable them to catch up to him before he got back to Midgar. Marty had only seen Rufus sleep very intermittently in their previous travels. Marty always got the impression that Rufus only ever used to sleep because he was bored and the others were also sleeping. He was often the first awake and the last to sleep. Marty figured that it was entirely possible that mako infused Rufus either didn't need to sleep or only slept very little. He had no reason to believe that the other Garens would be any different.

'Other Garens'. It was amazing how quickly he had gone into thinking of Rufus as just another monster. Of course Rufus was different from the others. He didn't seem to relish in causing pain rather he seemed to like fighting as a way to release energy. The only time that Marty felt Rufus wasn't bored or totally bonkers was when he was fighting or doing something equally as energetic. So he wasn't fighting just to fight but for some other unidentifiable reason that Marty just couldn't figure out. He wasn't torturing people, he certainly never seemed to have an inkling to eat any of them. So he wasn't a monster, just amazingly crazy and extremely hyped.

But why exactly was Rufus not a monster? Rufus had spent more time in Midgar than any other person he'd ever heard of. More than others who'd become Garens, therefore logically he should be even worse than the others. But he wasn't. Was it likely that Rufus had already gone through all that a long time ago and was now just beyond that? It didn't seem very likely. But it gave him something to think about other than where they were heading. Trying to figure out Rufus made the man seem less imposing somehow, something more manageable.

"Ya know, if the wind changes, your face will stay that way."

Marty hadn't realised how deeply he'd been frowning till Reno had poked fun at him.

They were walking along in the dust toward Fort Condor. Already they could see it looming in the semi-darkness ahead of them. At least this time there wouldn't be any fresh bodies lying in wait for them. The Garens had killed them all on the way to Junon.

"Eat me, Reno."

Marty didn't actually dislike Reno. It was strange, but the man was a brilliant distraction and for that alone, Marty could hug him. He hadn't realised it before, but being on the road with Vincent, Rulf and Rufus hadn't been the most conversation filled journey of his life.

Reno never really shut up most of the time. Even when he was being annoying, talking inanely or making bad jokes, he was never boring.

"Maybe later Marty, after we've bunked down for the night. Not really hungry right now."

Marty snorted but still smiled at the joke. Well, he hoped it was a joke. Reno's expressions sometimes made it impossible to tell.

"Tell me something, Reno. Why did Solider and the Turks train somebody who was going to spend their entire days sitting in an office pushing papers?"

"Beats the shit outta me. I never trained him. But I 'spose his father wanted him to be a little harder to kill than the average desk jockey. Makes sense considering the company he was gonna end up running wasn't the Peace Loving Flower Growers Society. Shinra had a heap of enemies and the old Prez came within an inch of being torn a new one more than a couple of times."

"I guess that makes sense."

"Don't gotta make sense. This is Shinra we're talking about."

Vincent eyed Reno with what seemed to be amusement. "You worked for them, didn't you?"

Reno grinned right back at him. "Didn't you? But hey, I'm not that complicated a guy. I grew up in Sec Three Slums with the rest of the gutter trash. Someone tells you they're gonna give you a fat shiny pay check every month, hot cold running water and an apartment with a view and you don't stop to ask them what their moral stance on the world in general is, ya know? I followed the money and did what I was told and truth be known, it was mostly a better life than the one I had before, so I wasn't gonna start bitching about ethics and basic sanity and whatever else most normal people would before they signed their lives away."

"Noble," Marty told him sarcastically.

"Practical," Reno corrected him. "But enough about the exciting life of me and back to Rufus. Just how did he become so scary anyway? I know you told me about the mako poisoning and everything, but the Rufus I knew wasn't exactly the fighting machine you're making him out to be. Time was I could have had the bastard on the ground and trussed up like a turkey before he even had a chance to go 'eep'. Sure he was trained by Turks and Soldiers but if you ask me he never really had the proper feel for it. Just something missing, ya know?"

"You used to take on Rufus?" Marty asked surprised.

"Two of us were training buddies. Fucker still owes me a drink from the last time I kicked his ass. Now it's like he's channelling Sephiroth and Tseng's lovechild or something."

"Mako makes him faster and stronger, you should know that." Vincent pointed out.

"Why? Cause I've had a little dose of it myself? Pfff, Turks aren't like Soliders, we don't get the proper treatments. And most Soldiers would have to be in the program for years before getting as quick as Rufus is now compared to the last time I saw him fight before Midgar fell. Don't get me wrong, Rufus wasn't bad, but not this good."

"Perhaps you can give us insider information on how to handle him if it comes to a fight?" Marty asked with a half-smile. The smiled slipped though when Vincent frowned at him.

Reno seemed about to come back at him with something but closed his mouth when he saw Marty's face and turned his head to follow his gaze over to Vincent. Understanding dawned. Though not very tactfully.

"Oh what? You think you're gonna catch up to him, give him a hug and Rufus will suddenly stop being a deranged maniac bent on killing our old pal Reeve?" Reno asked him sardonically.

"I don't think he understands what he's doing," Vincent informed him calmly.

"Oh? I think he understands very well. He's never been a complete idiot. Well," Reno amended, "not always. Look I've always been the first one to bring him down a peg or three, but he's not dumb. I bet he's thought this out real well."

"Reno's right," Marty spoke up before he even realised he meant what he'd said. "He's right." He said more firmly. "Whatever Rufus is doing, he's not being irrational. He's completely focussed for whatever reason and I think it's probably going to take a little more than talking to him to get him to stop."

Rulf snorted loudly. "Whateva, you guys can piss an' moan all ya want about why he's doin' what 'e's doin' but next time I see 'im I'm gonna shoot tha bastard. Shoulda done it tha moment we found out who 'e was."

Marty just shook his head at his friend's brashness. "You couldn't have shot him after he saved your life."

"Wouldn't 'ave taken much to twist me arm, Mart. Guy coulda given us a million gil an' a years worth a rum an' I still woulda shot 'im on priciple alone if anyone'd half suggested it."

"Your full of shit," Marty accused him.

"You kiddin' me? I'm still tempted to kill this Turk 'ere if he so much as looks at me funny. Fuckin' Shinra flunkies, leaves a bad taste in my mouth they do."

Marty might have laughed if he wasn't so worried about Reno's reaction to Rulf's statement about killing him.

But after a few moments of quiet contemplation Reno burst out laughing and slung an arm around Rulf's shoulder.

"I knew there was a reason I liked you."

* * *

Rufus got up and dusted himself off wiping a small trace of blood off his lip in the process. The Garen he had beaten was struggling to sit up but Rufus forced him back into the dirt with his boot before settling his boot on the Garen's throat. When the Garen started thrashing he increased the pressure to near choking limit till the Garen quietened down and lay still. Rufus let him breathe a little easier but didn't let up his boot. He watched the others warily, waiting to see if another one might use this moment to have a go at him as well but all of them seemed content to watch the show. The one he'd talked to in Junon, the one he'd since designated as number One (they all probably had names but most of the them had forgotten them and Rufus didn't really care either way, so he'd started designating them with numbers) was even smiling a little.

It had been easy at first. The Garens seemed content to follow him on their new calling even watching him furtively, in awe, like he was some kind of freak god. But since coming out of the mines, he'd begun to sense their restlessness with his leadership and it hadn't been long after that number Six had gotten so bold as to jump him. He knew the problem, they were bored. Not surprising really. Rufus hadn't bought them out of Junon to pillage towns and slaughter innocents and hadn't gone out of his way to look for any. He was far more interested in getting to Midgar as quickly as possible. Unfortunately for his new followers, the trail back to Midgar had been picked clean already on their first jaunt out to Junon and so they were bored. Obviously this wasn't what they thought they'd be doing when they followed him, if they even thought at all like a human anymore.

And so Rufus was presented with a problem. As hasty as he was to get to Midgar, he felt he might soon lose his little army before he got there if he didn't do something soon to restore their faith in him. Personally he didn't really care one way or the other if they tore through a town and sated whatever desires they had that drove their demented little minds, Rufus' only concern was how long it might take them to do so. Reeve must have had more than a weeks head start on him at the very least and since they hadn't come across his dead body on the way so far, he had to assume that Reeve was still on his own quest. Of course that meant very little. The others had been right, Reeve wasn't a hero, he wasn't a fighter and there was a very strong chance also that he had gotten lost somewhere and died as a monster's dinner. Or a Garen's come to think of it. After all, it wasn't like they passed him on the road on the way out to Junon either. Still, to a determined traveller, it would only take a couple of days to reach Midgar from Junon and if Reeve had survived to see Midgar that meant that he could have already been there when Rufus had left the place with Vincent. It wasn't likely but possible. Of all the outcomes, that one actually annoyed him the most. And if Reeve had reached Midgar, Rufus was certain that he wouldn't die there. Midgar was honeycombed by so many tunnels, sewers and access passages that would remain mosterless because they were generally kept sealed, then a knowledgeable man could keep himself hidden from monsters for the rest of their lives in them. And Reeve was very knowledgeable of all Midgar's nooks and crannies. Probably better than anyone in the history of Shinra because it had been part of his job to know. And unlike many of his predecessors, Reeve was very good at his job. Actually Rufus had always hated the man a little just for that. His job, and the retention for the tiniest details all came so effortlessly to him that Rufus was often jealous of the praise he got from the President while Rufus himself had tried so hard and couldn't be half the star that Reeve had turned out to be.

_"Well, I can't smell anything," Rufus replied after taking in a large lungful of air._

_Reeve gave him an unbelieving smile. "Well I don't know how you can't notice it. There's always a faint whiff of mako in the air even outside. It's hard to smell it out there I suppose, but in here it's really strong."_

_"Maybe I'm immune after all these years breathing it in. Just smells like home to me." Rufus looked at his friend curiously, "What does it smell like to you?"_

_"I dunno," Reeve shrugged, "tinny."_

_"Tinny?" Rufus asked. "Okay, that does it, you've spent way too much time down here already. Didn't you say the reactor was ready to be turned back on?"_

_Reeve whipped a greasy arm across his greasy forehead and gave Rufus his best patient look. "I believe I said 'almost'. There's still a lot of work to do yet. We've got to get down into the tunnels in case there was a crack in the structure down there. This reactor is so old I wouldn't be surprised if we sprung more than one leak that last time."_

_Rufus watched his co-worker with something close to amazement. The man was a department head. Basically that usually meant he should be spending his days in his office yelling at all his underlings to get the job done and let them crawl around in the underbelly of the reactor getting greasy and dirty. But here he was, overseeing everything personally and fixing what he could with his own to hands like he didn't have dozens of other people who could be doing this dirty work for him._

_On one hand, he admired Reeve for his dedication and good work ethic. On the other hand it really annoyed him that Reeve did things this way because he knew that if he had been in Reeve's shoes he would be the one sitting in his office and yelling at people to do it for him. Reeve had a certain lack of self importance about him that Rufus rarely saw in the people around him and it annoyed him to no end that he couldn't just despise the man because Reeve was so inherently likeable because of it. Bastard._

_"How long?"_

_Reeve looked up at the far ceiling of the reactor as though he could find the answer written in the gloom above. "If we don't find another leak, probably six hours. If we do, something more like six weeks."_

_"Six weeks, are you mad? The President is not going to be pleased."_

_"I doubt he'll be real pleased if we botch the job and blow up half of sector one either," Reeve told him offhandedly. "Look wait and see if we find anything. I should know within the hour. If it turns into something I'll wear it."_

_And he would too. He'd tell the President and the old man would huff and puff and Reeve would explain it all very calmly and neatly and leave the office with the old fart thinking he'd come up with the idea of leaving the reactor offline for six weeks. And that really annoyed Rufus because he knew he could never get away with the same thing._

_"I'll hold you to that actually, I could do without the father induced headache right now."_

_Reeve didn't smile at what Rufus had tried to make sound like a joke and gave Rufus a rather penetrating stare. "Are you alright?"_

_Rufus rolled his eyes, "Do you really have to be so considerate all the time, it really gives me the shits."_

_"Yeah, Reeve at least try to be an asshole like the rest of us 'cause otherwise you'll fuck with the company dynamic and I may be ordered to shoot you."_

_Rufus hadn't noticed Reno approach them on the gantry and looked back at the man now as he sauntered over toward them. Reeve just smiled and shook his head. "I'll try to keep that in mind."_

_"There you go being all considerate again. Will you never learn?"_

_"I guess not."_

_"What are you doing here?" Rufus asked Reno sharply. Now here at least was a man he had no problem despising. It was almost a relief._

_"Simmer down, I just finished my shift and you still owe me that drink from our sparring session last week and I find myself a little light of pocket at the moment. What say you Reeve, wanta come and learn to be a proper asshole with the two biggest assholes in Midgar over shots? Rufus is buying."_

_Reeve laughed softly and shook his head. "Too much work to do. Maybe tomorrow if all goes well here."_

_He couldn't imagine why, but Reeve and Reno always seemed to get along. Actually it surprised Rufus that Reno could be liked by anyone other than his partner Rude who seemed to only get along with him because he just tended to tune Reno out whenever he was talking about unimportant shit. But with these two it was a mystery. He really couldn't think of any two people that were more dissimilar. Reeve's unending patience seemed to play a big part. And Reno was always impressed with people that didn't want to hit him after spending a couple of hours with him. Though that also could be in part that he doubted Reeve even knew how to hit someone._

_But Reno seemed to behave himself well enough around Reeve and as far as he could tell, Reeve never got annoyed with him at all really. Reno was probably just finding the idea of someone not actively hating him so novel that he was actually nice to Reeve in response without thinking._

_"You and work. I'll never understand it. Personally I think the attention you give to mechanical devices might be better spent trying to get laid."_

_Well, mostly nice. Reno was only really joking after all and Reeve laughed it off anyway._

_"Sure and as soon as the city is in perfect working order I'll get right onto that."_

_Reno looked around the oldest reactor in Midgar with obvious distaste. "So never then, I take it."_

_"Okay," Reeve reiterated, "Maybe after this reactor is in perfect working order then."_

_"I still won't hold my breath."_

_"So if you guys are finished at the water cooler…" Rufus interrupted._

_"Yeah, yeah," Reno replied. "C'mon, we'll leave this freak of nature to get back to work and you can buy me that drink. Or ten."_

_"Don't push it."_

The gagging underneath his boot made him come out of his daydream to realise he had been unconsciously choking the Garen beneath his boot. Rufus wiped his face of the angry look he hadn't realised had been there and looked down at the Garen more calmly. It had started writhing and clawing at his boot again so he increased the pressure until the movement stopped permanently this time. He wasn't really sure why he'd done it. The Garen was cowed, under his control but he just felt like it. At least it might have an effect on the others. But he doubted it. They seemed to have little to no fear and watching one of their own die was probably better sport than they'd seen in days. Odds were if they didn't find some entertainment soon, one of them would try again just for the amusement factor. They probably didn't care that much on the outcome either so long as it was interesting.

So back to his original dilemma: where to find some quick and easy entertainment for his troupe. Realistically there was only one choice. He didn't want to waste the time, but it seemed like perhaps the only option available. So he'd have to go back to Kalm. And they'd let him in too. After all, Marty had vouched for him.

Rufus smiled.

* * *

They were camped just outside the mines and it was cold enough that Marty had every piece of clothing he'd bough with him wrapped around him in an effort to keep warm.

Nobody had wanted to light a fire in case it might attract unwanted monster attention. So far they had been very lucky not to encounter anything and they were all pretty keen to keep it that way. Not that they thought they were in any real life threatening danger by anything that lurked around here. But encounters like that would slow them down and might injure one of the party. Something they couldn't afford in their race back to Midgar. As it was they had pressed far into the night to make it this far. But if they were to get any sleep tonight, they had to stop eventually.

The cold was making it difficult for any of them to sleep though and they were all sitting up, most with their backs to rocks and staring out into the darkness. No doubt they were all contemplating the road ahead.

"So you and this Reeve guy were mates then?" Rulf asked Reno. Surprised as he was to hear Rulf talk to Reno at all, Marty couldn't help but listen in on the conversation.

"We were."

"Were?"

"Well betrayal does leave such a nasty taste in one's mouth, ya know?" Reno paused for a moment. "Not that I really blame him I guess."

"But ya think he's gone mad?"

"Sure do. Look, Reeve's a good guy, but I'd been planning to get El outta Junon for a while before he showed up with his ridiculous sounding plan. I wasn't about to throw away my chance at saving her for something I didn't think was on the saner side of crazy."

"So ya know 'im pretty well?

"It's not like we were BFFs or whatever, but yeah, I guess I knew him pretty alright."

Rulf seemed to be getting to a point and Reno had begun to realise it too.

"Spit it out," Reno suggested.

"Do ya really think he's capable of doin' what he's sayin'? Fixin' everythin' I mean."

Reno shrugged. "Look I think the idea sounds farfetched to say the least. And anyone who believes it's possible have been smoking something funky. But I suppose if it was meant to work, Reeve would get it working. He knows his stuff and he can be pretty determined. But like I said, the whole prospect sounds a little too much like a crappy fantasy fic plot-line to be anywhere approaching realistic."

"I'm gonna take that as a 'yes' then." Rulf muttered laying down to get some sleep.

The ever-hopeful part of Marty chose to take the answer that way too. And Reno had been right, if anyone had the determination and know how to pull this off, it would be Reeve…

If, of course, he was still alive.

* * *

To be continued……


	12. Because It Needed To Be Personal

Do What You Will

By AF

Chapter 12

By AF & Ace

Because It Needed To Be Personal

* * *

The foursome watched the chocobo with mixed feelings. Mostly surprise.

"I ain't seein' things am I?" Rulf asked Marty out of the corner of his mouth, trying to be quiet so not to upset the bird

The chocobo raised its head, looked at them, warked conversationally and went back to nosing around in the dirt.

"Seems pretty tame," Vincent remarked after a moment. "I wonder how it's survived?"

That was pretty much what Marty had been thinking.

They had just been taking a slight breather on the other side of the mines when the bird had wandered out from behind a rock outcrop and started nuzzling the dirt apparently looking for food not ten metres away from them. And what's more the bird looked pretty healthy really. Didn't look malnourished, all the feathers were a bright yellow and not at all ruffled.

"I wonder if we could use it to carry the bags," Marty said after a thoughtful moment. The supply bags were awfully full and very heavy.

"Screw that, I wonder if we can eat it," Reno said with his usual lack of grace.

Marty gave him a surprised look. "You wouldn't eat a chocobo."

"Are you kidding me? I'd eat my grandmother right now if she came dipped in gravy."

"We're carrying bags of food, Reno. You could've just said if you were hungry."

"Okay, I'm hungry."

Their breather turned into a dinner break. It wasn't much because they didn't want to waste time cooking. They mainly ate whatever vacu sealed fruit and vegetables took their fancy out of whatever Marty and Rulf had packed away.

After a few moments of eating beans Marty heard another wark behind him. Another chocobo had joined the first one and now the pair were watching them eat with open interest.

Marty tentatively threw a green bean toward them. One didn't react to the thrown bean, but the other one stepped up to where it had dropped and bent it's head to retrieve it. The other one just continued to stare as though it was waiting for something to happen.

"Do you reckon they're from the ranch?" Marty asked thoughtfully, chewing.

"Dunno," Rulf replied, apparently he had other things on his mind. He eyed his water canteen doubtfully. "So if tha air's poison, does that mean tha water is to?"

Apparently this was part of a conversation Marty hadn't been listening to.

"Yes," Vincent answered shortly, to Marty he asked, "Why, what's on your mind?"

"The water's poison?" Rulf exclaimed holding it out away from himself like it was, well, poison.

"So's the air numbnuts, you gonna stop breathing as well?" Reno told him sarcastically. "You've been breathing the air and drinking the water for this long and you're not dead. Besides, I don't exactly see a cool clean refreshing spring hereabouts do you?"

Surprisingly, Rulf didn't say anything or do anything violent to Reno. He stopped holding his canteen out at arm's length but he was eyeing it and making no further attempt to drink from it either. Apparently, the idea of actively drinking mako poison got to him more than unconsciously breathing it in did.

Marty realised Vincent was still waiting for an answer.

"Oh, um, I was thinking maybe we could ride them the rest of the way. I mean if they're tame we could get there a hell of a lot quicker right?"

"That's true," Vincent replied cautiously. "But there are four of us."

"We could double up. Though I suppose the weight of two people and the bags might be a bit much for them right? I mean they've been out here for who knows how long living off the land…"

"See we could eat them like I suggested and then you could breath, drink and eat poison." Reno told Rulf.

Finally Rulf reacted and threw a packet of dried peaches at Reno's smirking face.

Reno caught the packet without really looking. "They don't exactly look sick though." He said as though Rulf hadn't just tried to knock him out with a bag of fruit.

"Neither do any of us, and we've practically been living off the land, everyone has." Marty pointed out, but as soon as he'd said it, he realised that might not be entirely accurate.

While he hadn't known what the other two men looked like before Meteor, he had known Rulf, they had been friends for a long time and he had noticed some changes in the past year that he supposed he'd unconsciously chalked up to living a harder lifestyle than previous and general lack of good food. It wasn't that Rulf just looked worn from the hardships, though it wasn't exactly like he looked sick either. It was only little things, change in overall color maybe, wellbeing, certainly. Marty looked down at his own arm and pulled up his sleeve. He hadn't seen a mirror for as long as he could remember. Sure they had them in Kalm but they were all indoors where light didn't reach that well these days and lighting was a luxury. Marty had always been a bit tan naturally. His skin didn't have to see much sunlight to go a warm brown but since sunlight was practically non-existent, he hadn't expected to see much color. But to him his skin looked whiter and a little blotchy. Not massively, but it was a color he'd never before seen on himself. It was also the first time in a very long time that he'd taken any notice of his appearance and it was a little unnerving. Rulf had never really been one to go brown in the sun before. He went from white in winter to red in summer and little in between. Now he was pale. Like really pale. Paler than Marty remembered seeing him in any previous winter.

It wasn't by any means proof that they were starting to get mako poisoning. There was little light, no direct sun for over a year and that had to play havoc on your complexion. But Marty had to wonder if that was all it was. After all the Garens had an almost greyish complexion in comparison to most.

"They look like the healthiest chocobos I've ever considered eating," Reno told the group as a whole. "C'mon, tonight, steak's on me."

"You're right," Marty said.

"Finally!"

"Not about eating them, about them being healthy. They should be dead." After all they couldn't be eating well. Nothing grew out here anymore. That had to be surviving on mako air and whatever they could scrounge just like everyone else.

Marty got thoughtfully to his feet and wandered toward the bird that was watching him so intently. As he got closer, he held out a bean for the bird, which it accepted with a soft wark. Without waiting Marty pulled himself onto the bird's back with relative ease and much relief when the bird didn't instantly try to dislodge him. Instead the bird finished munching the bean, turned and slowly started walking away. It didn't go far though, back around the rock outcrop and toward a seemingly plain-featured bit of cliff face. When he got closer though he saw the opening in the rock and had to duck down on the bird's back just before it went inside to avoid hitting his head on the roof of the opening. Once he was inside the opening, hitting is head was not going to be an issue. The cave's interior was massive. So massive it had its own waterfall. From somewhere up in the darkness above the water fell over another wall of rocks into what he assumed was a lake. He couldn't see much at first because of the lack of light coming in from outside. But after another wark, the second bird walked in followed by the rest of his group, thankfully with a lit torch they'd bought with them from the mines. Even with the torch, it was still hard to see the top of the waterfall, but now he could see the lake it fell into. From what Marty could see of the cavern, he estimated that about half of the entire town of Kalm could fit in here with room to spare.

Reno stopped beside Marty as he slid from the chocobo and whistled appreciatively. "Nice digs. So I guess now we know why the birds aren't sick."

Marty looked to where Reno was pointing and saw the birds drinking from the lake. Apparently the beans had made them thirsty. But it looked as though the beans were just a treat for the birds anyway. There were greens growing up around the lake in some places. Chocobo's didn't need to eat much and what they had here already would probably last them years to come. And these types of Tantal Greens grew very quickly. It was probably very lucky that the birds had come outside at all. They certainly hadn't needed to.

"No fresh water huh?" Rulf muttered going out of his way to shoulder past Reno. "Eatin' those words yet, Shinra flunkie?"

Rulf had wandered over to the lake and was taste testing the water quality for himself. This was obviously fed from some underground source and must disappear back underground somewhere beneath the lake again. It was probably the cleanest water on the entire continent. And they'd just happened to find it just as Rulf had been freaking out about poisoned water.

Vincent meanwhile was watching Marty rather strangely. "That was some hunch about following them here."

"When Rulf was talking about the water, it just got me thinking about how good the birds looked…" Marty ended lamely.

"Why were you looking at your arm before this epiphany?"

Marty shrugged, "Lamenting the loss of my tan?"

Vincent didn't look convinced. "Try again."

Marty didn't know if what he thought was right and didn't feel good about explaining his hypothesis. But Vincent's look needed some kind of answer. "I was wondering if I looked sick. And if I looked sick, why the chocobos didn't. That's really all it was."

"You think you look sick just by looking at your arm?" Reno asked sceptically.

"I don't have a handy mirror." Marty snapped. "I was looking at the skin color."

"And?"

"I'm pale," Marty shrugged again, "Could just be the lack of sunlight. I don't feel exactly myself, but that's no surprise considering what life is like these days."

Reno was looking at his arms and hands too but stopped when he saw Marty looking at him. "What? I've always been this pale. Besides, I'm not the one that lives ten miles from the most poisoned place on the continent."

"I don't think I look or feel that different that I would have begun to question it if I was still living in ignorance of the mako in the dust clouds. But I do know, and it got me wondering, that's all."

Vincent nodded fractionally and started down to join Rulf who was refilling his canteen with the better tasting lake water.

It was nearing twilight when Rufus approached the barricade. Twilight lasted a long time this close to Midgar and Rufus could feel how close he was. It was like something was tugging him toward the southwest, toward the city of his birth. It was almost a physical sensation for him, but he faced away and tried to put it out of his mind. If this is what he needed to do to keep the minions happy this is what he'd do. He tuned Midgar's call out and slammed his sword into the dirt in front of the gates.

* * *

"That you Dick?" A voice called from over the barricade.

Rufus sighed. He'd pay someone back for that name one day.

"I've come back ahead of the others. Let me in."

Silence met the demand for a full five minutes before someone started laughing.

"You fucking joking? Where's Marty and Rulf?"

"They're coming." It was probably the truth. The others would probably follow him eventually. Even if Vincent didn't, Marty and Rulf would have to come back here sooner or later. "They sent me ahead." But it wasn't like he was against out right lying either.

"Well you can just cool your heels out there till they get back then. Or even after they do."

Rufus was actually surprised; he hadn't expected them to still be so wary of him. After all, he hadn't killed one single person the last time he was here. That had to count for something.

"Marty vouched for me."

"Yeah, that last time. But he ain't here this time is he. So you can either wait out there till they get back and we can argue some more or you can fuck off right now. "

Still surprised but not really bothered, Rufus retrieved his sword and stared up at the ever-darkening gates.

"Have it your way."

"We will," a smart ass called back.

Rufus turned and began walking back from the gates. "And I'll it have mine." He told himself.

* * *

In the end they decided to leave the chocobo's in their little cavern. Taking them would probably end up killing them in the end and not even Reno had objected to leaving them in peace and continuing on foot.

"Is that smoke?"

It was getting pretty dark now, but the group was trying to push themselves as far as they could before true darkness fell and they couldn't see where they were going and had to make camp.

Marty raised his head to where Reno was pointing. Far off into the distance they could see some black smoke and a red glow on the far horizon.

"Big fire," Rulf commented uneasily.

"Good, I hope the whole stinking armpit of a whore of a city burns to the ground," Reno added.

Marty felt his stomach tighten. He had a very bad feeling about that glow.

"That's not Midgar," Vincent remarked quietly.

"What? Course it is," Reno argued. "There's nothing else out here no more 'cept-"

"Kalm." Marty interrupted. "They've hit Kalm."

All thoughts of making camp tonight were suddenly gone.

* * *

_ "I don't understand why they're even doing it? Why invade a country just because they don't want a mako reactor?"_

_ Sephiroth raised his eyes from his paperwork to watch Rufus pace in his room. He'd been ranting ever since he'd gotten back from the board meeting to discuss troop placements for the imminent invasion of Wutai._

_ "It means more than that. It's all about control for Shinra. For Wutai it means that they don't want Shinra in their country bleeding out their money just to have electricity."_

_ Rufus stopped pacing and glared at Sephiroth. "You sound just as opposed to this as I am. How can you be in that meeting, helping them, when you don't even believe in the cause?"_

_ "It's my job." Sephiroth replied simply. "Sometimes you find yourself in situations that require you to do things you don't personally agree with but you must carry out your purpose regardless. And on top of that, if my help means that this war will be over sooner rather than later, so be it. Shinra will be free to move on and so will I."_

_ "That's a little over simplified isn't it? You'll help us win just to end it, not for the sake of winning."_

_ "You assume we can win this anyway. No matter what we do to them, Wutai will never embrace mako production. It will turn out to be not cost effective enough to run a reactor there when people will not buy the product. We will win the war, Wutai will be reduced to a shadow of its former glory but they can't be forced to buy electricity when they don't need or want it. Sure we'll eliminate them as a future threat, have them be an example of going against Shinra, but nothing else will be gained. Nobody will win this to their satisfaction. We might as well try to end it as quickly and decisively as possible."_

_ "Way to stand up for your beliefs there Seph. Was that you guessing, or can you see the future now?" Rufus asked sarcastically._

_ Sephiroth gave him an unimpressed look. "A five year old can predict where this is all going."_

_ "Yeah well, I suppose my father just isn't that smart. How can you be so blasé about all those deaths you'll cause? People will die for nothing if what you say will happen, happens."_

_ "I can't regret things I can't stop. I'm a Shinra Solider, this is what I was made to do."_

_ "So you'll kill for a greater good you don't even believe in just to get the job done?" Rufus asked unbelievingly. "You can live with that?"_

_ "Yes. This would be happening if I were here or not. Perhaps my involvement will just makes things happen a little easier for everyone on both sides. Though I suppose 'easier' it's the right word for the Wutaian side. I am good at winning my battles quickly with fewer casualties than a full assault by a bunch of over ambitious troopers. Hopefully that will benefit both sides.."_

_ "I suppose if this goes ahead and we start a war, it's the best we can hope for," Rufus agreed reluctantly. "After all it's not really human nature not to try and kill each other because of greed." Rufus continued sourly._

_ "I certainly hope so. Otherwise I would be out of a job." Sephiroth said smiling._

_ "Oh funny."_

_

* * *

_

There was little to see really. The barricade must have been the thing they'd seen burning from a distance. Obviously the villagers had put up some kind of a fight. The fire had engulfed a few of the houses that were too close to the wooden barricades but the rest of the town seemed relatively intact.

Marty hadn't known what to expect when he got back here but now that he was seeing it, he wished he'd prepared himself some more. Not everyone was dead to tell by the still screaming wounded here and there lying out in the open. A few of the able villagers were gathering together the wounded and treating them as best they could. Without a word all four of them dispersed to see what they could do to help. Marty was only partially aware of what he did for the next few hours. He helped carry the wounded to a cleared and intact house near the city centre and then went about doing what he could to help those wounded. There was a lot of blood.

"I din' expect to see you Mart. After that Richard guy attacked with the Garens I figured he'd killed you all and come back for us. We weren't gonna let him in when you weren't here, but I guess nothing was gonna stop 'em once they had a mind to get in."

Marty was sitting on a bench in the square next to his neighbour, one of the few people who'd made it through the slaughter with barely a scratch. Apparently he'd been knocked out during the invasion and the Garens had left him for dead.

"How many dead?" Marty asked numbly trying to wipe his hands clean of blood with a rag.

"You wont believe it, but not that many. From what I'm told, they weren't here for all that long before Richard called them off."

"He called them off? I thought he was the one leading the attack."

"Well, yes and no. He coordinated the thing sure, but he didn't do any of the killin'. Once they got in here he just stopped and watched them do their thing. Bored like he was watchin' TV or somethin'. Weird. Most of the people were just wounded or knocked out at first. A couple of people got dragged off somewhere kicking and screaming. Those are the ones we mostly found dead. The ones that didn't die probably are wishing they had. I've heard some pretty dark stuff about what they were doing to those folk. One guy has a chunk outta his leg, reckons one of 'em bit it off. How fuckin' sick is that? Of us we got maybe seven dead, probably ten more will be before morning. Most everyone was injured but they'll all heal well enough I reckon. We got two unaccounted for. Some reckon they got took when the fuckers left. Nancy's girl Bell was one of them. She's only sixteen. There are three of us who can still fight well that'll go after them after we've got everything settled." Marty's friend shook his head. "Can't really imagine her still being alive now though."

Marty remembered what he'd seen in Junon. They'd played with their victims for quite a while before letting them die. Bell was probably alive. At least physically.

Realistically, Kalm got off pretty lightly. If Rufus didn't have his mission to accomplish they'd likely still be here, living off the people of Kalm till there was nothing left to interest and or feed them here anymore. It would have been just like every other place they'd found post Garens, dead.

Marty didn't feel really lucky at the moment. He wasn't really counting his blessings that Kalm was not reduced to a ghost town of Garen victims. Sure it could have been a lot worse, but then again, if it hadn't been for Rufus, none of this would have happened at all.

For the first real time since they'd started back to Midgar, Marty knew that Rufus should die. Rufus wasn't just some sad crazy person anymore, a victim of Midgar and mako poisoning. To Marty, Rufus was just evil. If he didn't have anything better to do, Rufus would not have stopped them killing the entire town. He didn't care enough to stop them and his leadership was probably how they got in here in the first place. After all, some of the same Garens who'd tried to get in here before had failed without his guidance. No doubt, Rufus' influence had tipped the odds in their favor this time.

He knew this new thinking was purely a result of grief and revenge. He no longer cared. He was not as good a fighter as Rufus was and he suspected he wasn't half as smart either and no doubt he'd die in his attempt at vengeance. But he swore down to his last fibre that if he died, he was taking Rufus with him.

* * *

Reeve opened his eyes and took a deep breath. His connection to the robot had just died. The timing could have been better.

Oh well, without knowing if his message got through or not, he figured he'd just have to make the best of the situation and get back to work.

He slid off the engine housing he'd been sitting on and started back toward the core mentally sorting through the list of things he had to complete or repair in his mind as he walked. He was so caught up that he almost didn't hear it.

It was only the tiniest little noise, but missing tiny noises got you killed in Midgar. It was the sound of a hatch squawking ever so softly somewhere in the darkness above him. It was probably the access hatch from the plate.

Without further hesitation, Reeve started running as quietly as he could across the catwalk to a ladder that would lead him back down below into the tunnels below the reactor.

He'd check back later to see if the coast was clear of whatever it was that had decided to wander into the reactor with him. If it was dangerous and decided to stay, Reeve wasn't stupid; he wouldn't try to force it out. He'd only really just started repairs anyway, so it was no real loss to abandon this reactor. He did have seven more to choose from after all. If he did end up choosing another one, he'd just have to remember to lock the hatches up tighter.

He added it to his list as he climbed into the subterranean tunnel and quickly but quietly and locked the access hatch up behind him.

* * *

_TBC…_


	13. Process of Elimination

Do What You Will

By AF

Chapter 13

By AF & Ace

Process of Elimination

Without the food bags weighing them down the party was able to pick up the pace a little as they headed off towards Midgar. They set off before dawn but as they neared the familiar partially demolished ruins of Midgar it just seemed to get even darker.

Marty had always thought that it was dim under the dust clouds anywhere on the continent these days but Junon had been practically light and airy compared to this. Just over Midgar it seemed to be almost as dark as full night.

"You know, we're basing all this off the slight chance that Reeve even made it this far. I keep telling you he's probably being digested by some mako monster up in the mountains by now," Reno blurted out all of a sudden.

He didn't look thrilled to be coming back to his hometown. None of them were happy to be coming back in all truth, but Reno was uncharacteristically more nervous than anyone else.

"You sound far too keen that your friend might be dead already," Vincent pointed out.

"Not keen."

"Hopeful?" Vincent prodded.

"Damnit, not that either. I'm just being a realist. It's a hell of a risk to take for something that will probably turn out to be for nothing that's all."

They came up to the outskirts of the city, the old walls having been practically demolished either by Meteor or the fleeing citizenry. Here they took the opportunity to sit and drink some water. And more importantly to arm themselves and check their weapons. For Vincent, this could take some time.

"And, by the way, there's eight reactors. Assuming that's where Reeve would've gone it might take days to hike to them all. Midgar was a big city, now it's a big city with collapsed buildings and monsters everywhere." Reno continued.

Actually, Marty hadn't considered that. Reno was right, there was no way to know which of the reactors Reeve might use for his experiment. And tracking the Garen's trail wasn't going to be helpful either considering Rufus could have no idea where he was going either. Besides, they had to be the ones to get to Reeve first, that was the whole idea.

"It might just be a matter of slimming down our options," Vincent told them. "Reno, when you left Midgar, were all the reactors in working condition far as you know? Were any damaged?"

"How the fuck should I know?"

"Because you were Shinra, you would have a better idea than any of us."

"Yeah, well, you were actually in Midgar last." Reno pointed out. Vincent gave him a look and he continued. "Look, last I heard Hojo was trying to blow up the whole lot of them by firing the cannon before it was ready. For all I know they're all shot to shit. But before the cannon fired I'm pretty sure they were all in working condition. They used all eight reactors to fire the cannon, blacked out the whole of Midgar. Only Reeve would know which ones were in the worst shape afterwards. Or even which ones were in pretty bad shape beforehand. I know for a fact that he had to work his ass off to get a least three of them ready to use again. Reactors One and Three had small bombs let off inside them care of Avalanche. Reactor Seven was a little damaged when the plate got demolished. But I remember Reeve telling me they cut the power to the sector before it happened to protect it, so who really knows."

"So let's assume maybe that One and Five were probably not in the best working shape at least. If I remember correctly reactors One and Two were both used for Solider infusions, correct?"

"So?"

"It might make them less than obvious choices for Reeve. If he has to repair anything, he'll want it as simple as possible," Marty finished before Vincent could.

"So what that leaves us with Three, Four, Six, maybe Seven and Eight." Reno said counting them off on his fingers. "That's not much better than having to check them all. Hey maybe we can sit here and wait. If he did make it here and he does fix one he'll have to fire it up eventually right? Well, we'll sure as shit know which one he's in then."

"Yes, and so will Rufus. If he doesn't find him before that."

"Maybe we're going about this all wrong," Marty put in quietly. "Maybe we should be concentrating on finding Rufus and stopping him."

"The thought had occurred to me. But to be honest I don't think provoking Rufus is our best course of action at this time." Vincent said without glancing up from the weapon he was expertly reassembling.

"Why the hell not?" Rulf asked.

"Because he has a small force of Garens with him and if we got into and open fight with them we would probably die." Vincent told him.

"Okay, good point." Rulf conceded. "But ain't we just gonna haveta fight 'em eventually anyway?"

"Yes, but I'm hoping by that time we can seal ourselves into a much more defensible position."

"Like a mako reactor?" Reno asked with a knowing grin.

"Yes exactly like a mako reactor."

"I like this plan that has us perhaps living through this. But I still think we're wasting our time."

"Do you really think that Reeve is dead, or do you just not want to go back into Midgar that badly?" Marty asked Reno a little impatiently. "I never had you figured as a coward."

For a moment Marty thought he might have gone too far. Calling a Turk a coward was probably a fast and efficient way to commit suicide. But Reno being as unpredictable as he was, he didn't seem to mind the barb.

"I'm a very special type of coward actually. If I honestly think I'm going to die, yes I'd rather run away if I don't see a really good reason not to. Besides, I was born in this city and I swore to myself I wasn't going to die here as well."

He wasn't using a tone that would make the casual observer think that he was sharing anything deep and meaningful with the group. He wasn't smiling but he made the comment seem like he was making a joke. Marty had to wonder though at just how much coming back here must have cost Reno and his resolve. He went into that criminal nest with Vincent to save Elena without too much thought to his safety so it wasn't like he was really a coward. He can't have had that much faith in his and Vincent's abilities that he would have known it was a certainty that he would survive, not with the odds so unknown to him. There had to be something more here, but Marty didn't waste his breath asking. One, Reno would most likely not tell him the truth. Two, they needed Reno and his knowledge of modern Midgar and it wouldn't help to alienate him and three, Marty didn't really care that much. It wasn't as though Marty didn't like Reno, but they weren't best buddies and his total lack of faith in his own friends i.e. Reeve, wasn't causing Marty to start to be sympathetic to the man. His constant reminding that Reeve might already be dead, though probably having more to do with not wanting to return to Midgar more than any actual want for him to be dead, was getting on Marty's nerves.

"You know, the people from Kalm might still be alive," Marty reminded them.

"This is true." Vincent admitted. "But as I mentioned, getting into an open fight with the Garens would not go well for us. We will need somewhere to fall back to, somewhere to fortify before we can even consider mounting a rescue. And besides if we did go out and rescue the villagers and then fall back to the reactor where Reeve is we could be leading Rufus to him if he doesn't already know about it. We must find Reeve first and gather information before we try anything against Rufus."

Of course what Vincent was saying made perfect logical sense, and Marty knew he would go along with it. But he had to admit; it was going against everything he was feeling at the moment. He wanted to find the villagers alive and well and rescue them. He also very badly wanted to kill Rufus.

"The Number Six reactor is closest to here," Reno told the group while scanning the ruins. "I think."

"Well, it's as good a place as any to start."

* * *

Reeve froze when he heard the noise.

"Not again," he whispered quietly to himself.

Yep, it was definitely the sound of one of the slum level hatches opening again.

The noise was above him but not very far away and Reeve got up from where he had been lying underneath one of the control consoles and headed for his escape hatch. He closed and locked the hatch securely behind him and waited. He had decided after the last two times this had happened that he wasn't just going to give up and move on again. He had moved twice now and this till kept happening.

But he couldn't move on from this reactor for two reasons. The first was that this reactor gave him the best chance of achieving his goals. It had actually been the first reactor he had chosen but the hardest to get to. The tunnels underneath the city leading to this reactor had been crushed and unwilling to try and find an entry on the surface where he'd be monster food, he'd given up on it and searched for another one. His second and third choices would make his work more difficult, but he figured he could get there eventually, if he'd been left in peace. He hadn't. Something kept gaining entry to the reactor and he'd fled. With few options remaining he'd braved he surface for a little while and gained access through another entry to this, his first choice reactor. And now he'd begun to realise why he'd chosen it, it was perfect for his plans.

The second reason was because he didn't want to move on. He was sick of giving ground.

Right now he figured he had every reason to be paranoid. This time he'd thought he'd sealed the reactor up quite well. It was in good shape, no cracks, and no holes - not even a dent. All he'd had to do was lock up the doors and hope he wasn't locking himself inside with anything particularly nasty. And after spending a few days here he had been quite sure he had been alone. Still, whatever work he did, wherever he went inside, he made sure to tidy up after himself and leave no sign that anyone had been here since the city had been destroyed. Just in case. The locks on the door weren't perfect, but they needed power to run effectively and since there was no power, the electric locks hadn't engaged. However, no wandering brainless mako monster could blunder in, that was for sure, so it was making him think that perhaps his visitor wasn't a usual Midgar resident. And now that it seemed to be an ongoing occurrence, he felt fairly justified in thinking that perhaps someone was after him specifically.

Reeve couldn't imagine who that might be. Sure it might be some of his friends, but no one ever called out to him and he wasn't curious enough to stick around and find out if they were friendly or not. Being a pessimist would not hurt him. After all, there was nobody alive he could think of that could possibly help him with this and friends or not, there was no reason to take the risk. His friends wouldn't need his help and could look out for themselves so he didn't feel bad about it either.

If it was somebody wishing him harm, well, he would be better off hiding. If they found this reactor empty with no sign of him, they would probably just leave again and search another one. Once they did that, Reeve decided that getting the power back to the doors would have to be his first priority followed closely by a little added security of his own design.

* * *

"_What? I don't understand."_

_ Tseng looked at him calmly for a little while. Obviously his brain just wasn't taking in the news. It could hardly be surprising._

_ "Sephiroth is dead. He died in Nibleheim yesterday."_

_ Rufus even laughed a little. "Is this a joke? Sephiroth can't die. He's been in some of the worst battles in Shinra history and not gotten a scratch. And you want me to believe he died investigating mako monsters in that pissant little backwater town? Did Reno put you up to this? This has to be a joke."_

_ But some part of Rufus's brain knew it wasn't a joke. As unbelievable as it was, Tseng would not lie or joke to him about something like this. And that little part of Rufus's brain was screaming._

_ "I would not joke about this," Tseng told him leaning on Rufus's desk affirming what Rufus had just been thinking. "It wasn't a monster that did this, it was one of our own by all accounts."_

_Rufus's mind blanked for a few moments when he could let anger override crushing grief. "Who?" He asked in a cold voice._

"_We can't be sure exactly what happened, the accounts are a little jumbled but it was probably done by the Solider who accompanied him. A First Class by the name of Zack Fair. It was only he and a trooper there; Zack would have been the only one even remotely capable of stopping him. I don't remember the trooper's name, something Strope or Strife. He wasn't a very high grade whoever he was."_

_Rufus gripped his armrests till his fingers were almost turning white. "What do you mean, stop him? Why the hell would our own men turn against one another?"_

_Tseng blew out a big breath here seemingly uncomfortable with continuing. That was odd for Tseng; usually nothing fazed the man at all._

"_We have very good reason to believe that Sephiroth wasn't in his right mind. I guess it never occurred to Hieddigar that Sephiroth would check the core of the reactor and find the Jenova specimen. That's if the idiot even remembered it was there. Of course all the Jenova experimental notes are at Nibleheim too. According to the witnesses, Sephiroth closed himself up in the mansion and read the notes. He found out the truth of what they'd done to him."_

_Stupid Stupid Hojo! Rufus could never understand why Hojo had insisted on telling Sephiroth that was the name of his mother. Hojo had meant it as a bit of a joke really. That Sephiroth had been born and created from Jenova in a way, the same way anyone's mother gave to birth to them. Of course he probably meant it as a way of building him up and not telling him about his real mother now dead and gone. But you tell and eight year old their mother's name is Jenova because she was the one that created you and they will tend to believe it. By the time Rufus was old enough to realise the truth of the situation, he'd never been able to broach the subject with Sephiroth because he thought it might do more harm than good. Well, he'd been right enough there apparently._

_He could just imagine Sephiroth seeing that _thing_ for the first time in his life, thinking that Jenova was his mother and plainly just freaking out. Which he evidently did to the best of his formidable ability._

"_He set fire to the town, he killed almost every one of its inhabitants. It seems what he learned drove him insane." Tseng went on torturously. _

"_I should have been notified," Rufus told him numbly. "Why didn't we hear about this?"_

"_Sephiroth was the leader of the expedition. It should have been an easy mission for him after the stresses of Wutai. His second in command had no reason to really think of contacting Headquarters till it was too late."_

"_Is the Solider that killed him dead?" Rufus didn't know why, but he hoped he was. Even if he thought he had every good reason to murder Sephiroth, a dark part of Rufus hoped he had suffered for it._

"_No. But I hear he isn't in good shape. Hojo has gone to deal with it. He needs to make sure the labs are intact and there was no real damage to any Shinra property. That includes Zack I might add." Tseng looked a little uncomfortable about that but Rufus barely registered it._

_He was thinking 'good'. If Hojo has him and Hojo thinks he was good enough to take down the mighty Sephiroth, the Soldier would wish he was dead soon enough. The Professor liked to know how things ticked and usually strove to find out in the most painful ways possible._

_Tseng said nothing further, but hadn't moved away either._

"_Was that all?" Rufus asked the head Turk calmly._

"_Yes," Tseng replied after a moment. "Your father is dealing with the incident I'm told, but I thought you would want to hear about this before he told you."_

_He could have imagined it, but he thought he heard a little sympathy from his old teacher. It really never occurred to him that Tseng might be feeling low hearing that one of his old students was dead, but Rufus couldn't work himself up to caring right now. Rufus didn't feel like dealing with anyone right now actually._

"_If that is all, you can go. I know the Turks will be busy dealing with this."_

_Tseng obviously had nothing to say to that and left quietly, closing Rufus's office door behind him._

_For a long time, Rufus sat and stared at the top on his desk. At the paperwork he'd been pouring over not five minutes ago. It was all-important Shinra work but suddenly it had all just become stupid and insignificant. He leant over his work and resting his elbows on the desk and put his fingertips to his head. That part of his brain was still screaming and his whole head ached. A liquid drop hit the paperwork he was more or less looking at and Rufus stared at it in a semidetached way, unable to figure out where it had come from._

_

* * *

_

"So how long do you figure before we all start glowing like light bulbs?" Reno asked pulling himself up onto a high fallen slab of masonry and reaching down to offer Marty a hand up.

Marty took the proffered hand and with Reno's help, boosted himself up onto the slab. He stood up taking the chance to look around at their surroundings from this slightly more elevated position while Reno bent to help Rulf. On the building just across the way, he saw a dark figure standing still and watching them and felt his heart leap for a moment before he remembered that it was just Vincent.

Vincent said he hadn't liked moving around in Midgar on the ground because it made him an easy target. Higher up he could see incoming dangers far more easily. So he'd abandoned what was left of the roads and taken to the rooftops like some kind of nightmarish super hero. Reno had initially volunteered to go up there with him but had soon returned to travel with Marty and Rulf because he'd just been unable to keep up with how Vincent could leap over gaps and intuitively know where it was safe to step. Apparently Reno had almost fallen to his death several times.

So Vincent was up there serving as their scout and watching out for dangers and obstacles too high for them to climb and directing them around such things that were possible. Truthfully he probably could have left them in his dust and gone on ahead but he always stopped and waited for them when they got slowed up be the debris. He only ever came down when there were no rooftops to speak of or the gap between the buildings got too great even for him to jump. It wasn't real often.

Marty held up a hand to the dark figure and was relieved to see a hand in return. Vincent wasn't standing in the best light and Marty was glad of the reassurance that it was actually his friend he was looking at.

He heard a grunt behind him and leant down to help Reno. Rulf was a little weightier than Marty and Reno had been having trouble pulling him up on his own.

He was glad Reno had rejoined them actually. It had taken him and Rulf twice as long to navigate Midgar the last time they'd been here because they just didn't have the ability to get over as many obstacles by themselves. Reno might not have been able to keep up with Vincent on the rooftops, but he was agile and quick and a fantastic climber. He helped them over debris that he and Rulf on their own would have given up on and tried to find a way around.

"I think you have to be here a while before the mako starts to change you," Marty replied to Reno's question. "The guys from Kalm who got changed had been missing for months before they became Garens."

Rulf got to the top and Reno slithered down the other side to make room for him. Once he got to the ground he stared up at the others as they started their slower climb to the ground.

"So what I don't get is why it seems to effect people in different ways. I swear that big hulking thing we saw a couple of hours ago had the remnants of a Shinra trooper uniform on. Why didn't he just become a Garen?"

Marty waited till he was on the ground and they were walking again before he replied. "I think the people that were here when it happened got too much of a dose. It's the people who came here after and got a slower less concentrated dose that became Garens."

"Ah, but then how do you explain Rufus?"

"He's a deranged psychopath with lax morals?"

"Oh, funny. No I mean it. How come he didn't become a monster like those other ones?"

"I don't really know. But it's not like he's a regular sort of Garen either. Maybe because of where he was. We found him in the centre of the city, not on the outskirts where the reactors are. He probably got just a really slow, smaller dose over time. Either way, I don't really care at this point."

"Here here," Rulf seconded.

Reno gave Marty a look out of the corner of his eye. "Look, I'll always be the last person ever to defend Rufus Shinra, but I can't hardly be surprised how fucked up he turned out. Yeah okay, I hate him, he's a complete asshole that never had to strive for anything in his life because it was all given to him on silver platter but I gotta admit, I wouldn't have traded my life for his for anything. He might have had money and prestige and all that garbage, but at least I had my freedom."

"I suppose," Marty said apathetically.

"And at least I had friends. Rufus only ever had lackeys and yes men. Half the reason he hung out with me so often even though he hated the sight of me was because I refused to be one of those people. Anybody he ever had actual affection for either died or left him. He only had a father than despised him, teachers who pushed him and a morally bankrupt company to help run."

"You pity him?" Marty asked with some surprise.

"Don't mistake pity with like, okay? Better men have gone through what he did and still not turned into a sadistic egomaniacal asshole with the morals of a shark. But, it's something to take into consideration, ya know?"

"You don't think he deserves to die for what he's done?" Marty asked him.

"Oh, by all means, kill the frustrating idiot. But the reason I think he'd be better off dead isn't because I hate him. It's because I do pity him. He's in a dark place that's for sure and I don't think he realises what a relief it would be for him to just not have to go on living."

Marty hadn't thought about it quite like that before. And he was shocked that Reno ever thought in that way. This was deep thinking from the man who'd tried to see how many dried peaches he could fit up a nostril the last time they'd stopped for a break just because he'd been curious and bored.

However, he'd never considered the death of any person to be a mercy. But he could see Reno's point even if he wasn't sure he agreed with it or not. But then hadn't Rufus always been telling them that he thought he was dead anyway? He was crazy sure, but that didn't mean he didn't feel that way. Maybe his relief from living was the world they were in now. A world where he did have his freedom and control and could just do whatever the hell he felt like. If what Reno said was true and Rufus's friends had all up and left him in his life, someone familiar to him, even Vincent would have done as a friend for the now. Maybe he'd only ever followed Vincent's direction because he hadn't figured all that out just yet. Or it had just suited him at the time.

So if the man already thought he was dead, what did he have left to lose?

* * *

_Notes: _

_More action to come next chapter I promise. It's drawing to a close soon so hopefully everything will start to come together for you all._


	14. Old Relationships

Do What You Will

By AF

Chapter 14

By AF & Ace

Old Relationships

Marty had never been inside a Shinra mako reactor, but he'd heard about them often enough. He knew they were big structures; he just didn't realise how big the interior would be. Marty assumed that most of the reactor bulk would be taken up with the machinery that made the reactor work. This was not exactly the case. Sure, there was a lot of machinery but that was more confined to the outskirts of the internal structure or far down below where the reactor sucked up the mako from beneath the planet's crust. What was left was a cavernous area of many, many levels crisscrossed with catwalks that the workers would have used to get around to the pipes leading up from the pit below and up into the exhaust structure that loomed somewhere above their heads in the darkness.

Here and there were computer panels and on some levels there appeared to be doorways to rooms holding even more machinery and computers. All of these rooms, levels and catwalks made the reactor interior seem like one big maze.

Marty wondered how Avalanche had even found the reactor core to set off their bombs.

"Well," Reno explained because Vincent hadn't been with them during their terrorist days, "The Plate entry point, which is the highest entryway into the reactor, is a pretty straight shot to the core. I think that's the point. But I remember Reeve saying he had to go fix an exhaust pipe one time that was down below slum level and I didn't end up seeing him for two days. Keep in mind you're only looking at the open interior - there's a whole bunch of tunnels and service accesses that run in behind the walls in the machinery works."

"Fuck," Rulf muttered.

"So not only will it take us days to walk our ways around Midgar, but also it will take us days more just to search a reactor," Reno the pessimist pointed out. "And that's assuming we could see what we were doing."

Reno had a point. Marty was starting to get sick of Reno's points. Not just because Reno was pretty negative but mostly because they were good points that needed to be made. Marty had seen a lot of electric lights around the structure but of course those were all dark. They'd found flashlights near the reactor entry, but they could only penetrate so far. And even more eerily, the residual mako glow below them was certainly dim but present all the same. It helped them to see a little more of their surroundings but it lit the area with a ghostly green glow from underneath. And Vincent being under lit with a green glow looking at you with slightly luminescent red eyes made Marty jump more than once before he got used to seeing him like that.

"Won't we get poisoned and stuff in here?" Rulf asked, looking over the railing of a catwalk and staring down into the dim green glow.

"Possibly." Vincent answered. "The air smells thick with mako."

"Then what tha fuck are we doin' in 'ere?"

Vincent sighed. Apparently the question didn't deserve a response.

"If there was anyone in here we'd be able to hear them," Marty observed changing the subject. "It's so still and quiet I bet we could hear a pin drop."

"Yeah but Reeve isn't exactly expecting us is he?" Reno put in. "I told you before, he knows these places like the back of his hand. Maybe not all the reactors are exactly alike but he could disappear in a minute if he heard us no matter which one we were in."

"I guess," Marty responded uncertainly. Something was tickling the back of his mind but he just couldn't grab a hold of it.

"So, what's the plan?" Reno asked Vincent when it seemed like Marty was lost in thought. "We gonna take a couple of days to search or we gonna move on?"

Marty knew they were in the wrong reactor. He couldn't figure out how he knew, he just knew.

"We should spend the night here," Vincent told the group. "There are a lot of monsters here on the outskirts of the city. We can seal the door and sleep without having to post sentries."

"But the poison…" Rulf began.

_According to Reno, Reeve knew all the reactors pretty well._

"It will not turn you into a Garen overnight." Vincent insisted.

"You sure?"

_Of course not all the reactors were exactly the same. They hadn't all been built at the same time._

Vincent shrugged. "As sure as I can be."

_Reeve hadn't even joined the company _all_ that long ago…_

"Well gee-"

"He's not here," Marty blurted.

"What?" Rulf and Reno echoed almost at the same time.

"Reactor Six, it wouldn't be his first choice."

Vincent was just watching him calmly, waiting for him to continue but both Reno and Rulf looked confused.

"So please tell us oh sudden reactor expert, what would be his first choice?" Reno asked sarcastically.

"The Number Eight."

Obviously Reno hadn't expected him to be so specific from the look on his face.

"How the hell would you know Mart?" Rulf asked gruffly. "What makes Reactor Eight the pick o the litter?"

"It's because of what Reno said. Reeve knows these reactors all really well, but if you were gonna try something untested in hostile territory, wouldn't you want the home ground advantage?"

"I'm still not followin' ya," Rulf said puzzled. "Why Reactor Eight?"

Vincent's facial expression hadn't changed, but Reno's had. He had the look of someone who suddenly felt very stupid.

Marty continued, "Because out of the eight reactors in Midgar, it was the only one that Reeve ever built. I mean the outside looks the same but it's during Reeve's time that one was constructed. If he knew any reactor better than the others it would be that one. It's also the newest and the least likely to have been damaged previously."

"Okay so you can call me an idiot for not realising that before. Urban Development isn't exactly my thing," Reno said, "But it still doesn't answer how you knew that."

"He's right," Vincent interrupted before Marty could explain. "Eight would be the best choice. We need to rest though, we should still stay here the night and hike over to sector Eight tomorrow."

"Isn't Sector Seven completely trashed? I mean, more than the rest of Midgar?" Marty asked.

"We can walk around it. It might take longer, but we should make it before nightfall."

"Sounds like a plan," Reno agreed stretching. "Though I hope you're right about this Marty, I'd hate to backtrack and waste time."

Marty was all to aware of what was at stake. "Me too," he replied sincerely.

* * *

Reeve grinned as the overhead lights blinked on. Not all of the reactor lights came on, but it would be enough light to work by and more importantly, it was enough power to seal the electric door locks.

The little office where he'd set up came alive with flashing lights and the whir of the computers coming back on line and Reeve wasted no time engaging the locks and checking the readouts.

The reactor wasn't drawing much power but that was to be expected. The reserves of mako left in the tanks was barely enough to keep the reactor running for more than a few days at a quarter power and Reeve really hoped to be done before he would have to resort to mining for more mako.

He told the reactor to suspend mining, chew through the reserves and only run the most minimal of the reactor's very extensive machinery. At the very least Reeve could get the exhaust systems back on line and clear the air a little of the mako fumes. He knew that being in here without clearing the air first had been slowly poisoning him, but he was confident that now that he could get some fresh air or fresher air into the reactor he wouldn't be in any more risk in here as he was anywhere else in the city. That should give him plenty of time.

Reeve used the computers to check the stability of the reactor, but he still made himself visually check the core for leaks or any other problems before he got back to fixing the exhaust pipes. It was on this way back up through the tower when he heard new and disturbing sound.

With the reactor more or less running it was harder to hear every little noise like it was before, but this had been a big noise. It sounded ominously like one of the catwalks above had given way.

Okay, so that wasn't possible. Nothing could have been hiding in here when he'd sealed the reactor, he'd made sure. Nothing could hide from him in here.

Reeve slid his handgun out from the waist of his pants and thought madly. Here he was cut off from his best escape route and anyway, it wasn't like he could abandon the reactor now, not when he'd just gotten it working again.

Hopefully his trap had taken care of the intruder anyway.

* * *

Rufus only just barely pulled himself back onto the catwalk and knelt crouching to catch his breath before standing up and looking back at the broken section of metal that had given way beneath his feet.

Evidence suggested it had been cut on purpose. Rufus grinned. Well at least this wasn't going to turn out boring.

He held up a hand to silence to Garens left on the other side of the broken section to quit their yammering and listened to his surroundings. Sure enough he heard quick booted footfalls on one of the levels below.

He wasn't too happy though, despite the grin. He'd lost half his Garen force to the booby trap, falling to their deaths way down into the mako pools below, and the other half weren't pleased they were now cut off from their leader either.

Oh well, it wasn't like killing Reeve was going to be very difficult anyway. The backup was just in case anything cropped up. They'd been one sector over when Rufus spotted the reactor starting to puff again and they rushed back to investigate. Rufus knew it must be Reeve and it annoyed him that they had missed him the first time they'd checked the reactor. Well, he wasn't going to hide this time; Rufus wouldn't quit till he tore the reactor apart looking for him.

He motioned for the Garens to fall back. Rufus hoped they realised that he meant for them to find another way to follow him, but he couldn't be certain.

Following the sounds of the footfalls, Rufus set of after his quarry.

* * *

_Drink in hand, Rufus eyed the throng of people surrounding him in his apartments, dancing, drinking, trying to hook up and basically just having a lot of fun. A few people were standing with him, talking to him, but he wasn't even pretending to pay attention._

_ He supposed he must know all these people, but he wasn't sure. Occasionally he saw a semi familiar face lurking around, but he couldn't have put a name to that face to save his life._

_ Reno hadn't come, but then, Rufus hadn't invited him. But still, that usually didn't stop Reno from just showing up to these kinds of things uninvited and looking for free booze. It was entirely possible that the Turks were working tonight because he hadn't seen Tseng here either. However that didn't mean much. Rowdy wild parties weren't exactly Tseng's thing. Neither was it Reeve's, which is probably why Reeve hadn't made an appearance either. Scarlet was somewhere here, probably cornering some young thing on the dance floor and trying to convince him or her that it was about to become their lucky night._

_ Rufus would eventually do something similar, but it wasn't like he really had to go looking for it. Toward the end of the night, one of the women here would try to seduce the rich heir of Shinra Inc because that's what always happened. And Rufus would go along with it because that's also what always happened. And in the morning he would forget her name, if he even knew it to begin with, and that would be that._

_ The only thing that had changed since all those times in the past when it would happen was that now he just couldn't summon up any sort of excitement about the prospect. He couldn't quite understand why. She would be beautiful. They were always so beautiful. So beautiful that more than half the men at this party would have given their right arms to be with her tonight. And Rufus would have her because she only wanted the chance to be with him. Really that should have pleased him; it always had before. But not lately, not tonight. Tonight he would only be going along with it because it was better than the alternative of spending the night of your birthday by yourself._

_ He didn't really understand why he threw these parties anymore. Most of the people he considered his friends, the ones he could actually put a name to face for, weren't really the massive party types. And even if they could be convinced to let their hair down on one occasion, it wouldn't be at a party like this. The fake friends, the loud music, drinking till you puked, seeing how much you could swallow or snort up your nose before you passed out, hooking up with strangers, possibly multiple in the hallway or in a deserted enough room wasn't something those people really would consider a comfortable environment to spend more than a couple of minutes in. Except for Reno of course. This was exactly his type of thing. Pity Rufus hated him so much. At least he would have had someone to talk to who wasn't trying to butter him up, talk to him about work or trying like hell to get into his pants._

_ In retrospect he wondered whether it might not have better to just go out and have a drink with his normal friends. But he had this nagging doubt in the back of his mind that it wasn't good enough for Rufus Shinra to have a sedentary birthday party. It needed to be wild, he needed to be surrounded with people, and he needed to feel more important. Having a 'quiet one' wasn't something somebody like him did. He had a room full of exciting, outgoing, attractive people around him. Him, the centre of attention. It was all anybody could want. _

_ Right?_

_ He couldn't help but feel though, surrounded by people, music and laughter that he was all…_

_ A stunningly attractive woman across the room caught his roving eye and gave him a wink._

_ Rufus sighed deeply and tried to smile back._

_ He just had to remember what the alternative was._

_

* * *

_

Reeve was rushing back toward his makeshift office when a figure landed on the catwalk in front of him, almost giving him heart failure. He raised his gun but didn't fire when he saw the familiar face smile at him.

"There you are," Rufus said. "I've been looking for you, you know."

The arm holding out the gun dropped in shock.

"You're dead," Reeve pointed out a little dumbstruck.

Rufus smiled suddenly and looked relieved. "That's what I keep telling people, but will they listen?"

Reeve didn't quite know how to respond to that. Seeing Rufus was like seeing a ghost. There was no way the man could still be alive, but here he was. In some ways this man did resemble his old friend, but in a lot of other ways he looked like a stranger. Normally this might be a hugging and happy 'you're alive' moment, but something wasn't quite right here. The eyes looked all wrong, the hair, not to mention the facial scars.

"What happened to your face?" Reeve asked. He couldn't think of anything else to say.

"What face?" Rufus asked still smiling that off little smile.

Reeve gave up on that one. "And why is you hair mostly black?"

"Oh," Rufus said touching his hair, "Marty gave me a makeover to look more incognito. Apparently hanging with Rufus Shinra isn't cool anymore."

Reeve's expression froze. "Marty? Marty who?"

"Didn't get a last name," Rufus said offhandedly. "Why, is it important?"

"No," Reeve replied quickly.

The following silence lasted only about half a minute.

"So now that we've done the small talk bit, I should tell you I've come to kill you."

Still not really over the initial shock of seeing Rufus alive and…well alive, it took his brain a few moments to register what Rufus had just said to him.

"Um, what?"

"I've come to kill you," Rufus repeated pleasantly. "It's a pretty easy thing to understand."

Reeve took an involuntary step backwards. "Actually no, not really. Rufus, I know we had our differences before you…before Diamond Weapon attacked the city, but we were friends. Why would you want to kill me?" He was trying for reasonable but his voice came out a tad too nervous to carry it off.

Rufus sighed and got this thoughtful look on his face. "You know, I wish I could say it wasn't entirely personal, but I'd be lying. That's not the main reason, but it's a factor." He shook his head a little. "You know I wished you'd been a bastard, it would have made it easier to hate you. But you were always so unfailingly likeable," Rufus spat the word out as though it were evil, "and that really annoyed me. You were so good at your work, so dependable, so talented that you even had my father's admiration. He kept giving you bonuses on your budget and praising you on your work and it almost drove me mental. It would have made life so much easier if I could have just simply despised you. But who could despise good ol' Reeve huh? Sephiroth was exactly the same. He was talented, praised but he was still my friend. But just like him, you betrayed me in the end. They all do, these so called friends of mine. Vincent left me when he promised he'd come back. Sephiroth went insane and committed mass genocide on a town and then tried to do it on a larger scale with the world," Rufus said, as if the crimes were of equal weight. "And you, you side with Avalanche, just like Vincent ended up doing, and you betrayed me just because you felt like being a hero. And here you are, still twisting the knife in my back by trying to be the hero _again_. And where were _any_ of you when I was left in the rubble of my former glory, broken, bleeding, near death and _alone_?"

Rufus blinked. He hadn't meant to say that. He hadn't intended on saying any of it, but that last bit had just popped out almost at random while he'd been venting at Reeve. He was almost out of breath with the sudden emotion that had come out with it. And Rufus realised that he was suddenly very angry. Angry about a lot of things he hadn't let himself really think about before. Rufus hadn't been this furious since he'd tried to kill Reno back in Junon. He hadn't realised how badly that last bit had really cut him.

Nobody cared about him, nobody had even been curious enough to come look for his body. Not one of his 'friends' had bothered. In the end his entire life had meant nothing, to anyone. Rufus had suffered and nobody had cared.

Rufus knew now that that is why he wanted other people to suffer. They could live under a smog choked world, a continent wide Midgar like cloud of haze where everyone you met was just competition to your continued existence. Everyone would know what it would be like to have to look out for yourself only, not be able to rely on others and only have the people closest to you be glad if you died because it meant their life might become just that little bit easier because of it.

He wanted everyone to suffer, just like he had. Rufus wanted them to feel absolutely and irrevocably _alone_.

* * *

"So, that can't be good," Marty muttered.

They were crouched down on top of some debris that overlooked the reactor entrance.

The group hadn't missed, as they'd trekked through sector eight toward the reactor, the structure come to life and start belching smoke into the atmosphere. Actually any idiot almost anywhere in Midgar would have been able to see it - assuming they weren't blind.

From the lack of exterior lighting, it was obvious Reeve was trying to avoid drawing attention to himself but it was pretty unavoidable considering he'd just started up a massive mako reactor.

And keeping the porch light off hadn't kept the Garens from the door.

That's where they were now, camped outside the reactor door. They'd actually lit a fire, or Rufus had for them, and were sitting around watching it. It was obvious they were waiting for something. Probably waiting for their fearless leader to come back. The door to the reactor was wide open, Rufus was nowhere in sight and at least half the Garen force looked to be missing as well.

"I guess this means we came second," Reno agreed.

"Rufus is not there. He may still be looking for Reeve," Vincent pointed out, surprisingly optimistic.

Rulf muttered something foul.

"Poor bastard probably thought that once he had the electronic doors working he'd be safe," Reno put in.

Odd looks from all those present had him adding, "Hey, I know helpful things. I know about those electronic locks - they're a bastard to get around. You need the codes, that's all there is. Pity Rufus knows all the codes."

The look intensified. "I wasn't always a Turk, you know," Reno muttered defensively.

"Do you know the codes?" Vincent asked.

Reno didn't answer for a little while. "I used to have them memorised. Look, a lot of shit has happened between now and then do you really expect to remember something like that? My brain just files stuff like that under unless shit you'll never need to use anymore and I just…kinda forget it."

"A simple 'no' probably would have sufficed," Vincent told him archly. "I supposed Rufus opening the door means we don't have to."

"No, we jus' haveta fight our way through a half dozen Garens. Piece of piss." Rulf told him sarcastically.

"We'll split into two groups," Vincent began. "Marty and Rulf should distract the Garens near the door and rescue the people from Kalm if they're keeping them. Reno and I will enter the reactor and confront Rufus."

"I'm going in," Marty told him. "I'm going into the reactor."

Vincent sighed. "This isn't the time for petty vengeance, I need someone who can stand toe to toe with Rufus while I-"

"This isn't about revenge," Marty interrupted. "I'm going inside."

Vincent narrowed his eyes at Marty's stubborn tone. Actually it was so rare that Marty was adamant about things like this that Vincent didn't rebuke him or try to argue.

In the end he merely said, "Fine. Rulf and Reno will distract the Garens. Marty and I will go into the reactor. Or does anyone else want to argue?"

While neither Reno nor Rulf looked especially thrilled about their roles, they didn't protest. Vincent was right, splitting up was probably the best and fastest way to achieve their goals and neither assignment was better than the other.

"Okay, it's settled."

They spent a few more moments going over the details of the plan and where they would meet up afterwards and then there was nothing to do but say their goodbyes. It hadn't seemed to occur to any of the others that this might be the last time they saw each other and so therefore Marty was the only one who said anything as Rulf was about to follow after Reno. He caught Rulf's arm as he was about to turn away and looked at his friend for a moment. Rulf didn't seem to comprehend the reason for the hold up and looked at Marty quizzically.

Anything that Marty might say though seemed too trivial for him. They'd been friends for a long time, they knew each other fairly well, but like most relationships with your mates, they hadn't been all that close. But they'd been through so much together in the past year, it felt wrong not to say _something_.

"Good luck," Marty told him. He tried to put as much feeling behind the words as he could in a vain attempt to convey his feelings to his friend and surprisingly, Rulf seemed to understand.

Rulf smiled, "You too, Mart. I'll be seein' ya later."

Marty smiled back and let Rulf go. He and Vincent watched the pair pick their careful and quiet way down to the Garens and crouch behind the last piece of cover together, probably going over the final details of the plan.

All he and Vincent could do now was wait and watch for their opportunity.

* * *

Reeve hadn't made an attempt to raise his gun again at Rufus. Doing so would probably turn out to be a bad idea. Especially if he did take a shot and missed. He felt that raising a gun at Rufus after Rufus had already said those things about betrayal would only make Rufus angrier.

Instead he took another step back and tried to think. Thinking was proving difficult, though. He was too shocked to be very rational about anything right now.

"I thought you were dead," Reeve explained. "Rufus, gods if I'd known…"

"You would have known if you'd bothered to look," Rufus told him. "But you didn't. No doubt your new friends whisked you away on their airship and away from danger. Not that I can really blame you. I suppose you and I weren't really friends after all."

There was no more catwalk for Reeve to back onto. Behind him there was a ladder going down to the next level. But he didn't try for it. He stopped and looked at Rufus for a moment.

"Is that what you think happened?" Reeve asked quietly. "You think Avalanche came to rescue me?" Reeve gave Rufus a sad sort of smile. "They didn't. After your office exploded Scarlet and Heidiggar took charge. They had me arrested. I spent the fall of meteor in holding cell down on the guard's floor. The only reason I got out was because half the Shinra Building got demolished and I was able to pick my way back down to street level over the course of two days." His hands shook slightly at the memory of it. "Rufus, the top floors of the building were blown away, how could anyone assume you'd survived? I thought I was the only one in the entire building who had survived. A group of refugees let me tag along with them to Junon otherwise I'd be dead too."

Reeve glanced away, looking at nothing. "I haven't even gone to Kalm to check on my family yet let alone brave the million to one odds that one of my old friends just maybe was still alive here somewhere." He refocused on Rufus's ruined face. "Can you honestly say that the first thing you tried to do after Meteor was to check on all these people, these friends you are accusing of having left you behind? No, of course not. By the look of your eyes you've spent the last gods know how long right in this city feeling sorry for yourself and letting all the little shitty things that happened to you in the past pile up and slowly drive you insane. You think you're the only one who has suffered? You think you were the only one left behind? You're wrong."

Reeve pretty much knew he'd said exactly the wrong thing the moment he'd stopped speaking. He'd pissed Rufus off. Either because Rufus felt he was being too harsh or because what he'd said was pretty much spot on the money. Either way, Reeve didn't stick around long enough to find out.

He turned quickly and went for the ladder, descending to the floor below. Reeve only just got his feet on the floor and was five steps across the lower catwalk when Rufus dropped down in front of him. Reeve immediately stopped in his tracks. Rufus had actually jumped down from the floor above! A normal person would probably have broken both their legs.

Reeve did raise his gun now, but Rufus didn't seem worried about it. He slowly started walking toward Reeve with a dark expression on his face.

"Poor little Reeve huh? You think you've suffered?" Rufus lifted his sword off his back without breaking stride. "You don't know the meaning of the word." He smiled. "But you will soon."

Despite what he'd said to Rufus, despite what Rufus obviously had planned for him, Reeve was having problems pulling the trigger. Rufus had been his friend, he was obviously hurting. There must be another way! Reeve's indecision cost him his gun; Rufus knocked the gun away with one sweep quick sweep of his sword. On the back swing he seemed intent on taking Reeve's head off his shoulders.

Just as a rough hand gripped Reeve's shoulder and pulled him back, another much shorter blade came up to intercept the blow. A second figure landed on the catwalk behind Rufus, holding a gun to the back of Rufus head. Reeve heard a click as the gun was cocked, but he wasn't paying much attention anymore. He was too busy staring at Marty who it seemed was just as eager not to look back.

Rufus was annoyed by this turn of events. He deftly forced Marty's blade away and jerked backwards, trying to drive the pommel of his sword into Vincent's gut. Vincent danced out of the way, but it gave Rufus the opportunity to knock Vincent further aside and run past him, back the way he had come.

After a few fired shots, Vincent gave chase.

Marty stayed with Reeve and finally met the other man's surprised stare.

"Was that Vincent Valentine?"

"Yeah, Reno's here too. He's outside somewhere with Rulf."

Reeve shook his head, suddenly very much in need of somewhere to sit. He didn't though.

Instead he grinned and said, "You've been hanging with some interesting people, little brother." He pulled Marty into a hug. "Gods, am I glad to see you."

Marty was a little taken back at first but eventually hugged his brother back. "You too," he said sincerely.

* * *

_Notes: Okay, so I'm hoping that was a half surprise half 'ah hah' moment for everyone and I think a few people might have suspected something like that happening (hehe you know who you are). But anyway, things are drawing to a close and there should only be one more chapter maybe two if everything can't be wrapped up nicely enough to go._

_Okay so I haven't bugged people to review for a while but now it looks like it's nearly over I'm keen to hear from everyone. Let me know what you think Review review review._

Thanks!


	15. Feel Regretful Much?

Do What You Will

By AF

Chapter 15

By Ace

Feel Regretful Much?

Rulf set the girl down as gently as he could, He propped her into a sitting position, but she immediately slumped over. Rulf watched her for a few moments, unsure whether he should try to make the girl more comfortable or not. He decided against it, she didn't seem to be feeling any pain anymore anyway.

This girl was all that was left of the people the Garens had taken from Kalm and Rulf half suspected that she hadn't really been saved after all. Sure, she was away from the Garens now, but although her eyes were open, she didn't seem to register anything going on around her. Rulf had initially thought the girl was suffering from shock, but now he suspected it was more physical than that. She had a lot of blood through her once blond hair and he was thinking the Garens had hit her on the head a little too hard and she might be brain damaged. Rulf couldn't help but wonder (rather guiltily) whether it was actually for the best.

Since the girl was more or less out of the way, Rulf crept over to the big slab of concrete Reno was currently crouching, alertly scanning the rubble for any signs of pursuit.

Rulf hunkered down behind Reno and put a hand on his shoulder, unwilling to say anything in case the Garens were close enough for anything to overhear.

Reno must have been really concentrating on the possibility of them being trailed because Rulf felt him flinch a little at the touch. Reno looked around at him.

"I don't think we're being followed anymore," Reno told him quietly.

Rulf was surprised; the Garens for had chased them through the sector a little over an hour now and not once had the party been able to stop and rest for more than a couple of minutes at a time.

And being chased by Garens was downright scary.

Rulf could understand why the monsters would be so frightening, they had all been, when they were human adventurers, good enough and bold enough to trek through the Midgar rubble for months at a time and come back out without dying. So the Garens had been once presumably very good fighters and survivors before coming into Midgar the first time. It just so happened they didn't come back out human this last time. So all these men had been skilled, but like Reno had observed about Rufus, being effected by the poisoning had made them a damn sight more dangerous and deadly than their human selves had ever been. The Garens were stealthy, they were monstrously strong and apparently they could see in the dark. Not only that but previous experience told Rulf that they were sadists, rapists and probably cannibals too.

And Rulf and Reno had just royally pissed them off.

They had sneaked into the makeshift camp and made off with the Garen's only surviving Kalm captive in the hopes of both rescuing the girl and getting the Garen's to chase them away from the reactor entrance.

In retrospect, it probably hadn't been the best plan. The first time they had stopped to rest, the moment Reno had turned to look for possible signs of pursuit, a Garen had raced up to them with inhuman speed and gone for Reno's throat. With his teeth.

It had gone downhill from there.

It had been a running battle. Well, Rulf had been running with the girl slung over his shoulder and Reno had been fighting, but it was clear to them both that they couldn't keep this up. Every time they stopped for a breather the Garen's would catch them up easily and try to dismember them both with their bare hands.

Reno had the worst job. Being rear guard, sometimes having the fight off multiple Garen's up close and personal was a dangerous position to be in. And it was obviously doing bad things to his nerves. While Reno hadn't been with them when they had seen most of the Garen's handiwork, he'd heard enough about it and seen the after effects of their visit at Kalm to know what he was in for if they ever caught him. Rulf found it terrifying to think about what would happen if they were caught, but Reno was the one they had almost overpowered three times now. And it was pretty obvious the Garen's weren't outright trying to kill them both. Sure, they were trying to hurt them pretty badly, but Garens always seemed to like playing with their victims, not actually killing them till they were no fun to play with anymore, that is, 'til they'd been played with to death. Considering what these things were capable of, most men might have slipped a cog by now being in Reno's position, knowing what he was facing if he slipped up even for a moment. But to Rulf's relief the ex-Turk was doing well. Rulf knew he would have been captured himself by now if it hadn't been for Reno. He wasn't positive that his own nerves would have held out for as long if the positions had been reversed.

Rulf's hand was still on Reno's shoulder when he felt the other man stiffen.

"Fuck," Reno whispered.

Rulf risked a glance past Reno to see dark outlines of debris across the street. Somewhere amongst the debris several pairs of glowing eyes watched their position, unmoving and unblinking.

Rulf felt a chill run down his back. Now that was just fucking creepy.

He pulled on Reno's collar, silently trying to tell the man to get back on the move before the Garens did, but Reno resisted for a moment, scanning to the left and right of their position. Rulf could see his lips move silently. He seemed to be counting.

All of a sudden Reno spun around and pushed Rulf away just as Rulf's ears registered a noise above them. A Garen jumped down from a higher piece of concrete and knocked Reno to the ground. Rulf scrambled to his feet and hauled ass back to where he'd left the girl but she was gone. He knew what had happened. Another Garen had come and taken her silently while the two of them had been distracted by the Garens to the front. Some of which were just emerging from their hiding spots to run at the meagre cover Rulf and Reno had been using for shelter.

With no conscious decision involved, Rulf turned back to Reno, shot the Garen standing over his dazed companion, grabbed Reno's arm and legged it.

They needed to regroup with the others, now.

* * *

"He escaped up to the surface," Vincent reported when he returned from chasing Rufus. "He was not alone."

Well that explained that. Marty wouldn't have thought Vincent would give up so easily if Rufus alone had been running away from him. No doubt Vincent would have chased Rufus halfway across the city and more if needs be.

Marty had gotten Reeve to sit on the catwalk with his back resting up against a computer terminal while he got over the shock that was the new Rufus Shinra.

"Any sign of the others?" Marty asked handing Reeve one of the canteens he had filled up at the underground lake.

"No."

"Oh."

Vincent turned his gaze to Reeve for the first time. "Hello Reeve."

Reeve actually smiled a bit. "Hello Vincent. It's good to see you with my own eyes for once."

Marty realised that this was actually the first time the two had met in person before. Sure they both apparently been members of Avalanche, but that was while Reeve had been masquerading as Cait, or so Vincent had told him. Marty was a little surprised at the lack of reaction though. Sure he didn't expect them to hug, this was Vincent after all, but still…

"You two _are_ friends right?"

"We are," Vincent affirmed. "And you two are brothers?"

It was a question but Marty was still dumbfounded by the observation. Vincent hadn't hung around long enough to hear the conversation between them before. How could he…?

Vincent looked at Marty's bewildered expression for a moment and shrugged.

"I knew you must have known each other, you seem to know a lot about a man you apparently hadn't met before. Seeing you both together now, the resemblance is pretty clear. You must be close family. I don't understand why you didn't mention it before."

Now it was Marty's turn to shrug. "Didn't seem very relevant."

Vincent looked unconvinced.

"Marty doesn't like admitting his brother works, or worked rather, for Shinra. He thinks it's embarrassing," Reeve explained but with no real malice in his voice. "Not that I can blame him. I guess admitting that fact to strangers these days will most likely get you beaten to a bloody regretful pulp considering this whole mess was Shinra's doing. Especially considering the argument we had just after I first took the job with Shinra."

"Yeah and notice I'm refraining from saying 'I told you so'?" Marty told Reeve not very kindly.

"Oh get over yourself", Reeve responded wearily. "I am trying to make things right again."

"So we heard." Vincent told him.

"Ah, Marty said Reno was in Midgar too. I suppose he told you everything. How the hell did you manage to get him to come? I pleaded with them to help me but I got nowhere. I never thought in a million years Reno would ever set foot in Midgar again."

"We helped him save Elena."

"Elena was in trouble?" Reeve asked a little worriedly.

"She was after she tried to break into the old Junon Shinra headquarters and got captured by the new residents."

Reeve seemed about to reply but then shut his mouth as this information worked its way through his brain. Marty could tell the moment Reeve realised that she had been captured trying to help him when Reeve went a little green.

"Oh fuck," he said eventually.

Despite the past fights and future problems they were having, Marty felt very sorry for his brother in that moment. No matter what good intentions Reeve had, his good intentions always seemed to get other people into trouble. He'd unwittingly helped Shinra try to kill the planet but he all he'd wanted to do was build things for people to make their lives easier. Essentially Reeve had a good heart and a brilliant mind but he was just a little stupid when it came to judging the good hearts and the intelligence of those around him. He also tended to do things, good things, without considering the consequences of what it would take to get there. And somehow he was always so shocked and guilty when he realised what his actions had cost other people. It wasn't that he didn't care, he really did, and that was why Marty still loved his brother. But it was also why, on occasion, he wanted very badly to beat him around the head with a sack full of doorknobs.

"It was her decision," Marty told Reeve. "I'm not saying she deserved what happened to her, but she doesn't blame you for it either. Elena was the one who made Reno come with us. She knew you needed help and she knew what you were trying to do was important."

"I appreciate what you're saying, but it doesn't make me feel any less of a bastard. I should have just gone after that stuff myself."

"Right," Marty nodded, "And then you'd be dead and your whole plan would've gone down the toilet."

"Your faith in me is astonishing," Reeve told him sarcastically.

"No, it's realistic. Elena was a Turk and still was captured. You, brother, are not a fighter. You would have died."

"So you all went in to save her?"

"Not all," Marty answered. "Vincent and Reno did. Rulf, Rufus and I were off looking for supplies."

"Speaking of Rufus," Reeve began. "What. The. Fuck?"

"Uh, yeah." Marty grimaced sharing a look with Vincent. "Get comfy, this could take a while."

* * *

Rulf hated to admit it, but since losing the girl things had gotten a lot easier for him and Reno. They had two free and able fighters now and it seemed as though the group chasing them had more than halved. Not because he and Reno had managed to kill any more of them yet, but a few had been wounded and a few had probably found better things to do now that they had their captive back. Rulf didn't want to spend too long dwelling on that. No doubt it would have been better if they'd just shot the girl while they'd had the chance to save her from what Rulf considered a fate worse than death. And trying to rescue her again was probably next to impossible. Well at least with that head wound, she was probably as good as dead anyway and wouldn't have the capacity to feel anything anymore. Rulf felt sick to even consider these consolations but he knew he would have felt worse if she had been alive and totally cognizant because it still wouldn't have changed the fact that she was probably beyond rescue now. Neither of them had any way of knowing where she had been taken and they would have no opportunity to even attempt to find her without dying in the process.

Since losing her they'd found a small shelter to relax in for a little while. It was a building that was more or less still intact where they could fire off shots at approaching Garens before they got too close to the entrance. And so far this was keeping them back while the pair regained some of their strength and wits. Well their strength anyway.

"We need ta get back to tha reactor," Rulf told his companion.

"Ya think?" Reno asked sarcastically.

Reno looked dreadful. It had been hours ago now that the chase had begun and Rulf was fairly certain that the ex-Turk hadn't had a wink of sleep since they'd entered Midgar at all. This fighting and stress was plainly taking its toll on him. He had various cuts and scrapes all over him from his close calls with the Garens and some were bleeding pretty badly. Rulf in comparison wasn't half as injured but he still felt very shaken and extremely weary. It was lucky the Garens were so scary in a way; they motivated the pair to keep fighting way past their usual thresholds.

"Ya think the Garens've gone back to tha reactor as well?" Rulf asked after a moment.

He could tell Reno was about to come back with another nasty comment but before he spoke seemed to think better of it. "It _had_ occurred to me. It would make the most sense. I know we've been gradually circling back around in that direction but I have no clue what we're supposed to do once we get there if that's where they've gone," he admitted.

"Ya know the longa we stay 'ere tha more time those bastards haveta circle 'round us right?"

"Yeah, that occurred to me as well," Reno acknowledged with a weary sigh. "I don't have a lot of ammo left either. You?"

"Uh, none. Sorry."

"S'okay, I figured as much."

They both sat quietly for a moment, staring out of the glassless window at the front of the building, watching for Garens. Eventually Reno spoke again.

"Well, I suppose we could always just head back and fight our way in through the front. It'll be the last thing they'll be expecting."

"Yeah," Rulf replied carefully, "'cause it's suicidal."

"I didn't say it was a _good_ plan. I just said they wouldn't be expecting it," Reno shot back defensively.

"Wasn't there sposed to be some kinda underground entrance to these things or somefin?"

"Yeah, but doesn't mean I know where they are. I might have once, but I reckon I couldn't find it with a map at this point."

Rulf nodded to himself a few times. "Right, front doors then. Got any better plan otha than kill anythin' in ya way and run like ya ass is on fire?"

"No, that pretty much sums it up. You?"

Rulf sighed. "Nup."

"Okay," Reno nodded. "Let's move. I don't want them to corner us in here."

"Right. Hey Reno?"

"Yeah?"

"We're gonna die aren't we?"

Reno didn't seem to take long enough to ponder that answer. "Probably."

"And here I thought ya swore you'd never die in Midgar," Rulf told him with a grin.

Reno shrugged. "I'm not real good with keeping promises. I think I always knew I'd die if I came back here. But hey, let's not count ourselves out just yet. I might be shit at keeping promises, but they didn't make me Head Turk cause I looked good in my suit."

"Nah, it was probly 'cause you were a sneaky, devious murdering bastard wasn't it?"

"And those were just my good points," Reno agreed. "Let's see how far being sneaky can get us huh?"

"Less dead?" Rulf offered.

"That's the spirit!" Reno replied with mock enthusiasm. Then with less enthusiasm added, "C'mon, let's get this over with."

* * *

Vincent had decided to check out the rest of the structure to make sure there were no other possible ways in. Meanwhile Marty made himself comfortable sitting on top of a workbench in the office Reeve had taken over and watching brother work. It was pretty boring and he sort of wished he'd gone with Vincent instead. Not that he'd had a choice. Vincent had made it clear when Marty had offered his assistance that having Marty with him would greatly slow him down. The fact that the man managed to convey this with merely a look let Marty know he had now spent far too much time in Vincent's company.

Reeve spent most of his time between two computer terminals, typing, studying and mostly frowning. He'd been doing this for almost an hour.

"You know, if the wind changes direction your face will stay that way," Marty told him.

Reeve looked around from the computer he was currently frowning at and gave his brother a half smile. "Didn't you ever grow up?"

"Didn't you?" Marty asked a little more pointedly. "You've always wanted to play at being a hero, Reeve. Ever since we were little you always wanted to pay the role of the heroic warrior trying to save the innocent. But playing those games always got one of the other kids hurt. You always had to take it that one little step too far. I can't see how anything has really changed, can you?"

Reeve sighed and turned back to his work. "Here I thought you were trying to make me feel better about that a few moments ago."

"There's no good reason to feel bad I suppose. You're not a bad person Reeve. But you make decisions like that same twelve year old boy, impulsively and without properly considering what consequences your actions might have for other people."

"Actually that does make me sound like a bad person."

Marty shook his head, "No it doesn't. It makes you a good meaning soul with the common sense of a chair."

Reeve turned back to face Marty and crossed his arms over his chest. Obviously Marty had hit on a sore point. "So you want me to stop doing this? Do you honestly think that I haven't thought this out properly. Do you think I'd be doing this if it wasn't ultimately for the greater good of everyone on this planet?"

"Don't overreact. It's just this continent."

"No, I don't mean just this continent. Have you failed to notice that the dust isn't going away? Sure, the cloud doesn't sit as close to the ground as it used to, but although some of it is settling on the land, but it's up in the atmosphere too. Eventually, if it hasn't already, it'll get slowly blown over the rest of the world and it'll start poisoning that land too. It might not be as bad as here sure, but it'll be enough. It'll really start to affect them years from now after every living being on his continent been poisoned so much that there'll be nothing but mako monsters left - we'll all be turned into them eventually. And when that happens the border patrols the other continents have set up around this one trying to keep us all in will be overwhelmed and the monsters will spread as well. We need to stop it here and now. We need to neutralise the atmosphere and we need to hope that'll make it rain again because the water people are drinking now out of the ground is tainted and rain will eventually flush it out."

Marty considered that all for a few moments. It was a lot to take in. Everybody he knew had been trying so hard to just simply survive that no one had thought of what the long-term effects might be. Only lately had the fact of the poisoning really even become apparent to him. Only very recently had he begun to suspect that the patrols had more to do with keeping mako poisoned lunatics on this continent. He wasn't thrilled that Reeve had come to the same conclusions on his own. These were not theories Marty wanted validated.

"Not all of it is tainted you know," Marty reminded him shaking the canteen of clean water.

"Underground springs coming up from the rocks," Reeve nodded, "might take a very long time for the taint to work its way into that sort of a source. But can you really see that one source you found supporting every life on this continent?"

Reeve had a point. There couldn't be enough to go around. "Who says that it has to support every life?" Marty asked defensively. "You saw what happened to people in Junon. The assholes have taken over. People that would treat other people that way aren't worth saving."

Reeve watched his brother for a while with an unreadable look. "You'd really pick and choose people you felt were worthy of being saved and disregard those you deemed unworthy?"

Marty knew he'd talked himself into a corner he'd rather not be in, but he persevered, even if it was only out of stubbornness.

"Sure, why not? You always try and see the good in people, Reeve. It's a very noble and kind way to think, but you've gotta realise that some people just don't have good in them. Do you really believe that those men that did gods know what to Elena really deserve anything but a bullet after a heartfelt and very vicious ass kicking?"

"Okay, granted, some cases are more clear cut, but it doesn't mean every case will be. And besides, having clean water is only a fraction of the problem. No food can grow here anymore, the very air we breathe is toxic. My way is the only way to help _everyone_."

"And so we come full circle. And I bet you haven't considered the consequences of what you are doing."

"I have," Reeve told him. "I believe that the benefits are worth any possible risks."

"I'm sure you do. But do you mind running through those risks for me now, just to get a second opinion?"

"Actually I wouldn't mind hearing about the plan myself."

Marty hadn't heard Vincent approach, but he was standing in the doorway, leaning on the frame as though he'd been there for at least a few minutes.

Reeve obviously hadn't noticed him either. And under the combined stare of both of them, his expression started to turn a little defensive. "You don't trust me?"

"I trust that you believe what you are doing will help everyone. I don't doubt your good intentions," Marty replied carefully. "But I'm sure the guy who built the first reactor felt the same way too. He alone could not have foreseen what might happen because of that. You couldn't when you recreated his work and built this very reactor we're standing in."

Reeve definitely had the expression of someone who felt set upon now. Marty remembered how proud Reeve had been when the reactor had been switched on for the first time. The first reactor in Shinra history that had no start-up problems whatsoever and continued to run with no major complications till it was offlined during the devastation of meteor fall. Reeve hadn't known what the reactors were doing to the planet at the time, didn't understand what dangers lurked in their role in the Solider program. Obviously finding out the truth behind Sephiroth and hanging out with Avalanche opened his eyes and snapped him out of his blissful ignorance. The full impact of what he'd done must have weighed on him greatly.

"How many times can I tell you that I'm trying to make up for that?"

Marty opened his mouth to reply but thankfully Vincent beat him to it. He didn't entirely trust what he might have said.

"I don't care what you've done in the past," Vincent told him bluntly. "I can understand making up for past misdeeds. You aren't the only one that has tried and I know there are far worse things done by others with regrets than what you have done purely through ignorance and good intentions. Therefore whatever you think you've done matters little to me now because I don't believe you have ever been an evil person. Some others, myself included, can't make that claim. All I suspect Marty cares about is whether you've thought things through properly and not rushed to any conclusions because of any guilt you feel. I do not share that reservation. You aren't a stupid or foolhardy man, Reeve, so I don't care about that either. I simply wish to hear your plan. I want to know if this plan is likely to work or just some fantasy. If this plan of yours has a good chance of working, both of us, all of us really, just want to help you if we can."

Vincent had just glossed over some key reservations Marty was having, but his words seemed to calm Reeve a little. He hadn't realised just how much his brother must have been agonising over his past. Marty felt bad about pushing him so much. Vincent was right, all that mattered was hearing Reeve's plan and deciding what to do about it.

And help if they could.

* * *

_"That's all you've got to report?" Rufus asked, drumming his fingers on the desk in front of him._

_ Reeve shrugged and shifted his weight where he was standing in front of Rufus' desk._

_ Rufus watched Reeve's face closely, looking for any hints that Reeve knew more than the next to nothing he'd just reported to him. Rufus just couldn't believe that Reeve could spend endless weeks with these terrorists and not learn anything of any great significance whatsoever. Reeve had claimed previously that it was because they didn't trust him anymore, because they knew he was a Shinra spy. And sure, that meant they might not discuss strategy in front of the known spy, but the fact that Reeve couldn't even tell Rufus where they were going half the time made Rufus more than a little annoyed. He didn't understand what that could mean. It wasn't like Reeve would ever betray him, it just wasn't in the other man's nature._

_

* * *

_

Rufus stared so hard at the reactor he'd been chased out of his eyes had begun to hurt. The traitors were holed up in there now, at least until his Garens found another way to breach the defences of the reactor. Then they could get in en mass and stop Reeve and his new backup. The Garens were out searching now while Rufus waited.

He had known that Vincent would eventually show up, that was to be expected. Rufus had just hoped that he'd have some backup of his own with him at the time. He wasn't going to be stupid about this, if he wanted to stop Reeve, he couldn't act carelessly. And in the spirit of not being reckless, it wouldn't have been a good idea to face Vincent alone. It wasn't possible to be afraid of dying since he was probably dead already. But Vincent could have damaged him and then Rufus would be sunk.

Marty and Vincent had obviously turned on him, but Rufus knew that was to be expected. Your friends, no matter how close you thought they were, always turned on you in the end.

Rufus remembered feeling the other way about his friends, about Reeve. He remembered thinking that his friend, his close friend would not, could not, _ever_ betray him. He remembered also how it had hurt him when he'd found out otherwise. It hadn't been long before he'd died that Rufus found out, realised that Reeve had indeed betrayed him. It had cut him deeper than he had admitted in the moment. He actually felt that wound more deeply in the time following his death when he had a chance to think about everything that had happened more closely without interruption.

Even after Reeve's betrayal though, Rufus found it hard to actively hate the man. That realisation confused him. He would still kill Reeve, and he would enjoy it immensely. He was still very angry, but hate wasn't exactly the reason.

Rufus wondered why.

* * *

Notes: Okay surprise surprise I didn't finish the fic in the chapter I said I would. There will obviously be at least one more chapter. Sorry it took so long again but this time I was overseas for a little while and didn't get a chance to write so at least I have a good excuse this time


	16. Tough Choices

Do What You Will

Chapter 16

Tough Choices

So far it wasn't going too badly. Previously, stealth hadn't really been an option for Reno and Rulf because they had started off with trying to catch the attention of the Garens and then hadn't been able to lose them again. But Rulf had to admit, once given the opportunity, Reno proved to him just how good Turks were at being sneaky. Rulf only wished that he were even half as good. Twice now Rulf had made enough noise that they had feared discovery. And twice now the pair had been very lucky to remain unnoticed because of it. To Rulf's surprise though, Reno hadn't even so much as glanced at him with any malice in his eyes. He had patiently always helped Rulf back into place, scouted ahead for any disturbance and was even apparently picking a more Rulf friendly route than he was obviously capable of following on his own. It was a little creepy actually.

They were close to the reactor now, they could even see the doorway. The pair could also see four Garens poking around by the door.

That wasn't actually the worst of their problems. Four Garens wasn't exactly the small army they had been imagining and so finding only four here now was an unexpected bonus. Finding the door closed again was not.

Reno and Rulf flattened themselves against the roof of the building a hundred or so metres down the street and watched the Garen guards and the illuminated door that beckoned like a beacon.

There was a problem.

It wasn't even the Garens that were the problem. Sure, four Garens weren't a cakewalk, Rulf knew he would be extremely lucky to live through such a fight. The real problem was the door. If the Garen's couldn't get in, it meant Rufus could no longer get in. That probably meant that Reeve or whoever had changed the access codes. Reno had been trying to wrack his memory for the original access codes but now it would seem that remembering them didn't matter anymore.

"They musta known we would try an come back. They musta changed the codes to somefin' we'd know right?"

"Maybe, but who's supposed to know what it might be exactly? Is the new code supposed to be for you, me or both of us? Realistically they would have to make it something we'd both know in case one of us didn't come back. I don't know about you but I can't think of any sequence of eight numbers we'd both know and instantly use, do you?"

Rulf thought hard for a moment. "No," he answered eventually.

They watched the door some more while the Garens stopped their searching and seemed to settle in a little more comfortably. Eventually they were joined by another Garen.

"Well, that sucks," Reno told the world in general.

"Look, tha light's doing that blinkin' thing again."

Every so often the light above the door would blink in an unsteady rhythm as though fighting to remain lit.

"The reactor's been switched off for a while, I'm not shocked it's getting the hiccups." Reno told him.

The blinking stopped as it always did and the pair went back to thinking.

"Maybe we can get in somewhere up the top? I know there's exhaust coming out of the top but I also know there's like a million access hatches up there too." Reno said as though thinking out loud.

Rulf followed Reno's thoughtful gaze up the dark outline of the tower where they could see the faint green tinge of the exhaust puffing up. It was a long way up.

"Uh, maybe you could. Me, think I'll save meself tha fall. An' tha mako poisoning," Rulf added.

Reno sighed. "Girl."

The light started blinking again. "Jeez Reeve, fix your fucking reactor, would you," Reno muttered.

There was something about the blinking that was bothering him though. A little déjà vu.

"Hey Rulf," Reno began thoughtfully. "Felt like you've seen this show before?"

Reno gestured Rulf's puzzled eyes toward the blinking light. Rulf watched it for a moment trying to fathom what Reno could be talking about. Instead of seeing it as random blinking, he tried to see whatever pattern Reno was seeing. "Well fuck me. How tha fuck does that Reeve guy know army code?"

"Reeve probably doesn't, but Vincent would. Turks use it too. My question is how do you know it?"

Rulf ginned at him. "Used to be a trooper when I was a lad. Lasted a year 'fore I decided it left a bad taste in me mouth."

"Uh huh, bet you punched your sergeant."

"Sure, that too. Mart knows I used to be a trooper. See there ya go, somfin' we'd both know, right?"

"I missed most of it though," Reno told him. "We'll have to wait for it to come 'round again. These reactor codes are eight digit numbers, don't suppose you have anything I could use to write it on my hand do you?"

Rulf handed him a knife.

"Ooo, funny."

They waited in expectant silence until the light started flashing again.

"W-E-L-C-O-M-E-A-L-L-B-U-T-O-N-E." Rulf spelt out. "Wait, what? What kinda hint is that? It jus' keeps repeatin' 'Welcome all but one'."

Reno was watching the light with a deep frown though. Eventually he smiled. Then he seemed to be counting.

"What you doin'?"

Reno didn't answer him at first then eventually said, "Two, three, five, two, three, six, three, five. That's the eight digit code."

"How'd work tha out?"

"It's a little trick we use. As you've proven, sometimes any bum from the sticks know our army code, so we wouldn't just transmit numbers. We'd use a sort of code. Like 'bugger off you bastards but gee your half yellow'. To get the number you spell out bugger off you bastards in their corresponding numbers dropping the g's out of it and then add half of the numbers you get from yellow. Get it? If the enemy can read it they just think you're having a go at them. Easy right? It was the only thing we could really come up with when we hadn't had a chance to work out a proper code beforehand."

"You came up with that system didn't you?"

"No actually Tseng did, that's probably how Valentine knows it. But that last one was one of mine."

"So…?"

"So, 'welcome all but one'? Get the numbers that correspond to the letters from welcome then you drop all the ones and you have your eight digit reactor code. Guess they tried to make it easy for you in case I kicked it." Reno watched Rulf's perplexed face, "Guess they were giving you too much credit, though."

"How d'ya say 'go fuck yourself' in that there code?"

Reno laughed quietly. "Let's go before more Garens come to the party."

Before they left their position, they ran the code over and over until they both had it memorised.

Rulf then followed Reno over to another mostly intact rooftop and they edged their way as quietly as they could to the reactor entrance. The plan had always been for them to get Reno to the keypad while Rulf did his best to try and hold them off with the only gun they had left with any ammo in it - which just happened to be Reno's handgun. Reno would then open the door, get Rulf inside and slam it closed before they were caught. This plan mainly hinged on them getting between the Garens and the door without being heard at all until the last possible moment. To do this Reno had stressed to Rulf to step where he stepped only. Moved as lightly as he could, stick to the shadows and not, under any circumstances, fuck it up.

Rulf wasn't used to having to be quiet. Fights for him were more of a frontal confrontation style of bash them over the head till they didn't get up anymore than this flitting through the darkness thing. It should have not been a surprise therefore when Rulf went ahead and fucked it up. He thought he'd stood on exactly the same roof tile as Reno had, however when Rulf eased his weight onto it, the tile shifted with a loud screech. Ahead of him, he saw the dark outline of Reno and his head snap back around to face him after the noise. Then he heard a quietly muttered 'fuck'. Less quietly was the sound of about five Garens hissing from just below where they'd passed. They were between the Garens and the door, but only just. It wasn't enough.

Indecision kept them both routed to the spot, Reno while he probably hurriedly thought, Rulf while he mentally shit himself.

"Right, well," Reno said eventually. "See you at the top then. You might want to duck down though."

Before Rulf could utter a word, Reno ran forward. He wasn't being sneaky now and just about every tile he hit creaked or came loose, crashing down onto the path where the Garens were making their own racket. He came to the end of the rooftop, jumped and landed on a part of the reactor structure itself. Faster than Rulf could have imagined, he started up the side, apparently climbing the reactor structure.

Rulf remembered Reno's parting words just in time to duck down as a Garen pushed himself up onto the roof and took off after Reno. All five didn't seem to notice Rulf hunkered down the shadows and took followed the first, swarming up the reactor structure after their fleeing quarry. Rulf couldn't help but notice that they were a doing it a little faster too. The darkness eventually meant that Rulf couldn't follow their progress anymore but he was a little too shocked to move afterwards.

Eventually he did move, noticing a little too late that he still had the ex-Turk's gun in his hand. He tucked it away, climbed down and entered the code to open the door without any hint of Garen interference.

Inside, the reactor was brighter than he'd have expected. It seemed like more than half the structure was lit up and pulsing. He made sure the door locked behind him and made his way further inside. Eventually he came to an open area where he could see the mako glow below him and several criss-crossing walkways above and below him.

"Mart!"

His voice echoed through the space and then from over a railing above his head he heard and then saw Marty calling back down to him. He made his way up as quickly as he could to find a stoic as ever Vincent, a haggard looking man with dark brown hair and grease stains he took to be Reeve and Marty who unexpectedly hugged him.

When the unnecessary show of affection was over Rulf was introduced to the greasy man, Reeve. To Rulf's surprise Reeve turned out to be the brother Marty never liked talking about. Marty wanted his brother to tell him about the plan to help save the planet.

Rulf declined. "Yeah, I know it's important an all, but alls I need right now is yer gun and I'll be goin'."

Marty looked surprised, then he seemed to realise what was missing. Or rather who.

"What happened to Reno?"

"Dunno if anythin's 'appened yet. Gonna go find out."

"You're going back out there?" Marty said with some shock.

"Not zackly. Goin' up. Reno took off up tha reactor. Said somethin' about getting' into tha maintenance ducts near tha top. Gonna go find out if 'e made it."

"You'll want to cross to the other side and climb the ladder next to the utility room. That'll take you up the access hatches you want. I sealed them up earlier but you can still open them up from the inside."

Marty gave Reeve a funny look.

"What?" Reeve responded. "It's not something Reno hasn't tried before just for fun. Trust me, I know where he'll be heading."

"He's not alone, though, is he?" Vincent asked pointedly.

"He might 'ave some company. More's tha reason to go help."

Instead of refusing, which Marty expected, Vincent nodded. "I'll go with you."

* * *

Reno was climbing faster than he had ever moved in his life. Every time he dared to look over his shoulder he could see the dark outlines of the Garens swarming up behind them, backlit by the reactor lights further down the structure. He could hear the snarls and hissing of the Garens too. Apparently this game of chase was going on for a little too long for their liking.

Now that he was his own Reno felt like he could panic at least a little bit.

What he did was stupid. Reno had only been half joking about climbing the reactor in the first place, he hadn't really been entertaining the notion as a likely getaway. Sure he'd done this once before. But that had been in the middle of the day when he could see what he was doing, had lots of time to do it in and because Rude had dared him. That had been the most important factor. He just couldn't let a crazy dare go undone. It didn't matter how much Tseng had yelled at him later, it had been worth it. But now that things were so desperate, it was so dark, he was moving so quickly and he had unthinkable monsters chasing him he was in very real fear of missing his step and falling to his death. Of course, Reno already decided that if things looked hopeless and they did manage to grab him he'd do his best to try and fall anyway because that was better than being raped, eaten and killed (hopefully not in that order). But he wasn't there yet, he was still ahead of them and he was still climbing.

* * *

Reeve took a vial of fluorescent purple liquid out of the bag he'd bought with him from Junon and showed it to Marty.

"It was still in the doctor's safe in his house in Junon. The President might have vetoed its use, but the doctor just couldn't bring himself to destroy it. I remember being briefed about its possible use at the time and being told how it would be used, but I didn't have the complete picture until I was able to read those files you bought with you from the Shinra offices in Junon. Now I know it will work."

This apparently was the 'magic' that was going to make the world right again. Reeve had explained to him and Vincent that this liquid, distilled from a kind of materia and a bunch of other things Marty lost track of was the key ingredient of neutralising the toxins in the air that were poisoning the planet. All they had to do was get the reactor going again and filter the mako through the core where they would introduce this chemical or whatever it was into the system so it could be mixed in and go up out of the reactor through the exhaust and into the atmosphere. It sounded a little vague to Marty and Reeve had admitted that he didn't really understand how this magic liquid worked. He apparently had a sound idea of its use, but Marty hadn't been able to follow it when he'd explained it to them. This presented a problem to Marty. This stuff was completely untested and for all he knew it could make things worse. But as Vincent had pointed out logically, it was getting to the point where things may not be able to get any worse than it already was.

"Won't refining more mako and pumping the exhaust up into the atmosphere make things worse?"

"It was designed to be used in a mako reactor to help counteract pollution and it's the only way I know of to get it into the atmosphere. Besides whatever mako particles ejected are going to have this new element in them, it shouldn't make the pollution any worse. No, it needs to be mixed with mako in order to bond with whatever's already up there."

"Yeah but you're just guessing. You weren't the one who made the stuff, you were just the reactor expert that the real scientist consulted when he was making it. You can't know for sure."

"You're right, I can't." Reeve admitted. "But I have to try."

Marty had been dubious about the plan from the get go, he had to admit. It was too good to the true. But hearing the emotion behind that last statement Marty decided to throw caution to the wind and accept the fact that Reeve's plan, however vague and unknown, was the right thing to do. With the state things were in now, how could they not at least try?

Marty nodded. "Right, what do you need me to do?"

Reeve had opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by a crash from further down in the structure. The way things echoed around here it was hard to tell, but it sounded like something large had given way.

Reeve turned back to look at a computer terminal and bought up a large map of the reactor structure.

"The entrance from the lower tunnels has been breached," he reported.

At first Marty wasn't quite comprehending what that meant. "I thought those tunnels were collapsed?"

"The tunnel entrance where I tried to get in was," Reeve confirmed. "The whole tunnel might not have collapsed. I didn't bother to check it out, it was too much for me to shift on my own, and it would have taken me too much time."

"But I supposed half a dozen Garens might make easy work of it if it was just the entry that was caved in," Marty muttered. "Okay, this isn't good. How long will it take to get the reactor coughing up the cure?"

Reeve stared off at nothing for a little moment while he did a few quick calculations in his head. "Too long. The reactor needs to be prepped and tested and bought entirely online before we can even think about adding the liquid to the core. That could take half a day or more and that's if I rushed it." Marty gave him a look. "I usually have a two dozen techs helping me do this sort of thing," Reeve protested. "And that's when the reactor has been shut down for a couple of days or so. The thing has been out for almost a year."

"What happens if we don't prep or test the thing, won't it work?"

"That's the point of doing those things, to make sure it will work. It's not like just flipping on a switch and it starts up, it's not a kettle, Marty."

"Humor me, how long would it take if you just turned it on without the tests?"

Reeve was already shaking his head. "The computers wouldn't let me because it's too dangerous. And even if I could bypass the computers, get it drilling and manage to have the whole thing - "

"Reeve, how long?"

"Twenty minutes. Thirty maybe. But look, you can't just do that. Do you know how a mako reactor copes on start-up when even the smallest problem occurs?"

"No, will it shut down?"

"No Marty, it blows up."

Marty let out a huff of air. "Awesome."

As far as Marty could tell they were pretty screwed. Rulf had taken his gun, he only had a sword left and Reeve's handgun. He didn't know how many Garens might be now inside the reactor and even if Vincent and Rulf were here, he wasn't certain they could've held them off anyway.

"Is this the only place you can work from?" Marty asked him already sensing the answer to the question.

"This is the main control room, this is it." Reeve confirmed.

Marty thought furiously for a few moments. The control room was about halfway up the reactor structure proper. Rulf and Vincent were presumably up at the very top. The reactor core where they needed to dump the liquid was in between the Control Room and the lower tunnels. Marty wondering if it was worth trying to get the reactor going before they were overrun or leaving and coming back to try again later. It wasn't an easy decision. If it were just the Garens after them, Marty would have said leave. But Rufus was with them. Rufus wanted to stop this plan more than anything at the moment and no doubt if they left, Rufus would make sure they couldn't come back later to try again. Sure they might be able to try with another reactor but if Rufus had been smart about this, he would have been disabling all the reactors he'd been visiting while searching for Reeve. And Rufus, while admittedly crazy, wasn't stupid.

As much as he hated to admit it, logic told him this was their one shot. They had to hold their ground long enough for Reeve to do his work and get the reactor going.

He gave the room a careful look. Because it was underground, the room didn't have a lot of windows. There was one large sheet of glass that looked out into the reactor but that was all. The door itself could be computer locked from the inside. If they covered up the window and locked the door, they could hold out for a little while at least. But that was only the beginning of their problems. If Marty locked them both in here then how would they get the liquid to the core? Also Rulf, Vincent and possibly Reno were unaware of the incursion and might be taken by surprise. He supposed he could lock Reeve in the room, and then what? Warn Rulf or make for the core? If he went after Rulf he might be losing his chance to get to the core. But if he went to the core and left Rulf to fend for himself, Rulf could be in trouble and Marty himself might get caught having gone down there with no backup and the only magic liquid they had would be lost.

He looked at his brother, the indecision evident on his face. "Reeve, I don't know what to do. How can I make a decision like this when so many things could go wrong if I choose badly?"

Surprisingly his brother gave him a sad sort of half smile. "At least now you understand how I've always felt. I know what you're thinking, you think we need to finish this now. I agree."

"But we can't start the reactor up straight away, you said-"

"Yeah I know what I said, but at least if it blows up I won't have long to regret it."

Apparently Reeve had been using this time to think about things too.

"You might be worrying unnecessarily." Marty told him. "Look, this reactor is the newest and the best of the lot. Remember how proud you were when it was first started up and there were no problems, not even one. You took the old designs and you made them better. You know your creation better than anyone, Reeve. Are you that sure it won't work?"

Reeve seemed to think this over for a moment. "Not entirely sure, I suppose. Considering the circumstances, it's well worth it to find out."

Despite's Reeve newfound confidence in the reactor, Marty still found himself standing there, undecided on the best course of action.

"If you're worried about Rulf and Vincent, I think I might be able to warn them. But what I really need is someone standing by to add the infusion when I need it. I need you to go to the core." Reeve told him.

Reeve was deciding for him and that made it a lot easier to bear. He wondered if that was the reason Reeve was telling him what to do, to spare Marty the indecision but also the consequences that might come from such a decision. He tried not to let on that he understood and listened to Reeve intently while he outlined the instructions necessary to adding the liquid and timing when to do it.

"If you wait too long, the core will be flooded with mako and you'll get poisoned." Reeve finished for him. "I wish I could be there to do it myself, but I need to be here to monitor everything."

Marty was still stuck on the poisoning issue though. "So I'll die if I get poisoned?"

"Maybe. It depends. If you leave it very late, then yes. If you're just a little late, I don't really know what effect that might have. It might just mean you suffer a slower death than the immediate one you'd have if you opened it when the core was fully activated."

"That's comforting."

"Look, nobody opens the core unless it's been off lined for a couple of days beforehand and it's never opened during start-up so I honestly don't know what will happen. Just don't get it wrong. You're very capable, I have faith in you."

Reeve was trying to reassure him, but it wasn't really working.

* * *

Reno was almost there and he couldn't quite believe it. He had been aiming for a bright yellow light on the side of the structure where he knew the access hatch was. In general use, the hatch was used to allow workers to climb out onto the structure and up to the exhaust tower in order to make repairs. Even at night since back in the good 'ol days of Shinra reactors needed to be working quickly as possible so the President could keep counting his bucks. Reno had never really thanked the old money crazy President so much as he did now. If Reeve had had his way reactor workers wouldn't be allowed to climb out here of a night time and Reno would not have had that beautiful yellow light to focus on. Only five more feet to go an-

He felt something wrap itself around his ankle and give him such a vicious tug he almost came free of his handhold. He regained his grip tried to pull his foot out of the grip when he felt his ankle being tugged on again and then something bit into his leg. Surprisingly he didn't feel that much pain. And at first he thought it was because the jeans he was wearing might have saved his leg a bit. But when he felt something warm trickle down into his boot he realised it was probably just the adrenaline and he was indeed screwed.

The hand and teeth weren't letting his leg go any time soon and Reno was seriously contemplating his suicidal alternative when the hatch above him opened with a mighty screech and a half of a man shaped shadow blocked out the yellow light.

"How's it goin'?" Rulf asked companionably.

"Oh fine," Reno replied through grit teeth. "As you can see I've been making friends. Little help?"

One loud blast from above and Reno felt the weight of the Garen let go. Another figure emerged to join Rulf on the ledge and together the pair set about picking Garens off the side of the structure. It didn't take long. Reno had spent those couple of seconds redoubling his grip and trying to keep as still as possible so they wouldn't accidentally shoot him. Once they stopped he concentrated again at getting to the top. Only now he had a leg that seemed to not want to take his entire weight.

Rulf noticed he had a problem. "Ya move like me grandmamma, what's the hold-up?"

"One of them was snacking on my leg. Kinda doesn't work so well anymore."

They were too far away to pull him up. But the second man Reno realised to be Vincent holstered his weapon and climbed out over the edge and made his way closer to Reno.

"Can I help?" Vincent asked quietly.

"I don't see how. I may end up pulling you off as well."

"I'm not afraid of falling."

Of course he wouldn't be, not when he could fly. Probably the only reason Vincent hadn't by now was because he was saving it for when he really needed it.

"I can do this." Reno told him.

And he did with Vincent's help. Reno realised Vincent was a lot stronger than he looked. He climbed down below Reno and with the aid of whatever hand he wasn't using to keep himself in place he used to to brace Reno's injured leg. The pair made a very slow journey up to where Rulf could eventually grab Reno's hand and boost him up the rest of the way.

Reno spent a few much needed moments breathing while Rulf checked out his leg.

"Holy fuck, bit right through ya jeans an' all. Deep too. Must hurt like a bitch."

"Now that you mention it, it does." Reno figured he'd calmed down enough to notice.

Vincent ripped a piece of cloth from his cape and bound the wound. "Can you walk?"

"Walking should not be a problem, just don't ask me to run."

"Good. We have a problem."

"Excellent." Reno said insincerely.

"The Garen's have breached the lower levels. Rufus has found a way in. Reeve managed to signal us to let us know."

Reno sighed. "Maybe I should have just let go after all."

Rulf crouched down next to Reno and looked at the deck between them. "Look Reno, I-"

"If this is the part where you tell me you love me, I have to tell you I'm taken."

Rulf flushed a little at that. "Ya arrogant lil'-"

Reno laughed. "Simmer down. You're welcome. But I'm not a hero, if I'd had a few more moments to think it over I would have legged it over to the door and escaped while they were feeding off you."

Rulf grinned after a moment. "Sure, Reno. Whateva ya say."

"I mean it, you fuck up like that again and I'll throw you to them myself."

"Be quiet," Vincent told them both. Reno looked about ready to mouth off at him too but Vincent wasn't looking at him. He was looking at the sky.

Notes: It won't end! I keep trying to make it end and it keeps getting drawn out. Promise next chapter you'll be free of this fic. Absolute last chapter I swear. And yeah, this may be with the exception of the first chapter the only one without Rufus in it. But never fear, of course he'll be back for the conclusion.


	17. Revelations and Late Arrivals

Do What You Will

Chapter 17

By AF & Ace

Revelations and Late Arrivals.

The problem with Garens was that you couldn't issue them with orders more complicated than; 'go, kill' or they tended to get confused then bored and wander off. Strategy therefore had to be simplified or rather discarded entirely for a more on-the-go approach. They were good at searching though providing they understood what you were looking for. The idea of the Control Room had stumped them a bit though. Surely a big room with lots and flashing lights shouldn't be too difficult. But according to the Garens the whole reactor was a big room with flashing lights and that stopped that search after the sixth time of one of the Garens excitedly running up to him after discovering yet another work panel which were a gil a dozen inside the reactor. So Rufus came back to the easier, more Garen friendly approach.

"Go, kill."

Oh well, sometimes it was better to stick to the classics after all, and orders like that tended to make them so happy too. It was just so heart warming to see their manic little grins light up their otherwise deranged expressions. Besides, no doubt everyone in here he wanted to kill was in the Control Room at the moment so at least the order might lead him where he wanted to go.

It was weird for him seeing the reactor lit up like this when he hadn't seen one function for a very long time. Back when he'd been on his own in Midgar before Vincent and the others had found him he'd wandered into the Number One, the oldest reactor in Midgar and spent a fruitless couple of days trying to turn the blasted thing on. He'd had no luck with the reactor, it gave him not even a twitch and it more than annoyed him now that Reeve had gotten this one to work so apparently easily. Reeve of course knew the reactors inside and out while Rufus only had the barest understanding on how everything worked but it didn't really matter to him. Midgar was his and every part of Midgar should be working for him, not against him. Oh yeah, he'd enjoy killing Reeve, a lot. He only wished he could do it more than once.

At his command, all the Garens had swarmed ahead but one and Rufus decided to take his time following them. He wasn't very familiar with this reactor, he'd only been in the thing three times before. Once before he'd died, the second time when he'd been looking for Reeve and the third time when they'd come back to kill him. Rufus had thought he'd disabled the reactor that time. He'd smashed a couple of key panels and cut a lot of the wiring, just in case, but it looked as though that wasn't enough to stop a determined Reeve. Of course he remembered Reeve telling him once upon a time that this particular reactor was a little special. It had safety features and redundancies galore so maybe Rufus hadn't even slowed him down even a little. Oh well, he couldn't dwell, he'd just have to think up a new strategy. There was another way to disable a reactor. He just hadn't done it before because he was a little stuck for time and was mildly worried about what would happen if he did it. But now he was more concerned about stopping it for good. He knew where the reactor core was, he also knew that if he damaged that there were no ways to bypass it. The reactor would be once and for all dead and then he could deal with traitors at his leisure. Maybe he'd see what the Garens saw in their never ending quest for fresh meat. He had been getting curious…

He turned to the lone Garen that had stayed behind with him. "Report back when the others find someone."

* * *

After Marty left, Reeve spent almost twenty minutes more putting the last barricade in place. Once that was done he stepped back for a moment to admire his and Marty's handiwork. Then he wished he hadn't. The barricade wasn't much, they hadn't had enough time nor supplies to do the job properly and Reeve was questioning whether it would hold up under the pressure.

According to the others, Rufus had a fair sized group with him. Marty had told him that Rufus had initially run into seven Garens in Junon but seemed to have picked up more since returning to Midgar. Not a lot more, but at least five more since then at the very least. Reeve had not run into these Garens before and it was disturbing to hear the stories about them. He might have been inclined to not believe half of it except this was Marty and Vincent telling him and they wouldn't exaggerate something like this.

If Rufus had twelve of these Garens with him, they would probably take less than ten minutes breaking through to him once they set their mind to it and that wasn't a comforting thought. Less comforting was the thought that he'd sent his little brother out there to face them alone with only a short sword.

But he had to try and put it from his mind. He had to have faith that Marty would be alright and that he would be in time to add the chemical solution to the core. Reeve had a reactor to start up and against his better judgement, he would only have about twenty minutes in which to do it.

Reeve set to work.

* * *

Marty had just ducked back behind a large piece of machinery as three Garens dashed across the catwalk he was heading for. They were heading for another ladder to take them up to the next floor and Marty gave them as much distance as he thought safe before moving out from his cover and continuing on.

He wasn't far from the core now which was a good thing. And those Garens he'd just seen had been the only ones he'd come close to running into, which was also a good thing. But Marty could hear the reactor humming a little louder than before and that wasn't so good. Reeve had told him he had at least forty five minutes once they'd parted to get to the core. That had been twenty minutes ago and the reactor sounded like it was just about ready to kick into gear. Marty hurried on. A few minutes later he climbed down onto the core gangway and ran up to the hatch. He looked in through the window and could see a dim glow from the core.

Reeve had told him he needed to wait till the light started pulsing quickly. That meant it had to be pulsing about every second. Once it started to pulse twice in a second, it was too late and they'd need to shut the whole thing down and try again or risk harming him with a dose of pure refined mako.

The light hadn't gotten any stronger and hadn't started to pulse yet. He'd made it in time. Now if only the reactor behaved itself on start up, all would be going to-

Quick footfalls on the ground behind him made him turn around and bring up his weapon just in time to block the descending blow of a red sword.

Rufus grinned at him from behind the sword.

"What's up, Marty?"

* * *

Vincent caught the rope ladder as it was dropped and secured it onto the structure. Those above would now be able to climb down and access the reactor via the hatch they had emerged to save Reno. It was almost fateful that they had been up here in the first place. Otherwise the airship might have just passed them by, landed elsewhere and be stuck outside, and they would have been unable to get in.

Reno and Rulf were looking up. Rulf with a little confusion. Reno with obvious scepticism.

"For some reason, I don't feel especially saved right now," Reno muttered.

But Vincent was actually smiling.

It was a little creepy for the other two to see.

After the rope had been tied off, the trio went back inside to wait patiently. Reno slid down and wall and sat on the floor, his injured leg stretched out in front of him. He was obviously in a lot of pain.

Rulf was watching him a mixture of guilt and annoyance on his face. He obviously felt bad about what had happened to Reno, but annoyed at the delay all the same. They knew Rufus was in the reactor, they should have been rushing back down to help Marty and Reeve but they weren't.

Reno caught his look though. "Stop looking at me like that or your face might freeze that way."

"How's your leg?" Rulf asked gruffly.

"I'll be fine after a couple of days in hospital being sponged down by nurses and, oh, that's right, there aren't any hospitals anymore are there? You know what's funny, I remember taking Rufus to a general hospital once. Tseng went spare at me, made me take him back to Shinra for treatment. Weird huh?"

"No, it isn't weird considering the circumstances."

"What do you mean?"

"Rufus has had Jenova enhancements."

"What!"

Vincent didn't look like he wanted to continue for a moment but with both pairs of eyes drilling into him at the same time, it seemed he felt compelled to keep talking.

"This, I believe, is what makes Rufus different from the other Garens. I've been thinking about it. He hasn't exactly been poisoned from the mako, the Jenova cells in him have probably kept him from being effected by it too much. But he's probably been _infused_ by the mako in his environment, not poisoned like with the others."

None of his companions seemed to really know what to ask first after that one. Predictably it was Reno who was first able to speak again.

"Just when were you going to tell the rest of us about this? This is kinda a big deal you know!"

Vincent shrugged. "Since when?"

"Since always ya daft monkey!" Rulf spat back, siding with Reno.

"It never really came up before Rufus decided to start recruiting the Garens."

"That was days ago!" Rulf exclaimed.

Reno, though had moved on. "So he's had the treatments, like a Solider? Hang on, so you're saying the company gave him the Jenova treatments but not the mako? I don't get it, why would the old prez do that to his own son?"

Vincent just gave Reno his best, don't be an idiot look, which true, was close to his usual expression, but Reno seemed to get the message all the same.

"I get it, it's just like the training. Jenova cells give you greater healing abilities among a lot of other things. He was trying to make Rufus hard to kill. Jenova cells also helps with massive doses of mako infusion. I remember Tseng telling me that it was the only way Soldiers could be given so much mako."

Vincent nodded. "He was never infused. Rufus had a public face, he couldn't seem different to people. The mako glow in his eyes would have given him away."

"How do you even know all this?" Reno asked. "You disappeared more than thirty years ago. How did you know Rufus had the Jenova treatments?"

Vincent let out a big regretful sigh here. "Rufus would be thirty six years old now. I knew him when he was a small child."

Reno frowned uncomprehending for a moment. Vincent didn't continue, just waited patiently for Reno to think that over. When realisation did dawn, Reno looked a little disgusted.

"They started the treatments when he was six?"

"Actually I believe they started them well before that. The treatment would have stopped before I even met him. I doubt he remembers it."

"A Solider buddy of mine that had the treatment told me it was the most painful thing he'd ever been through. He said it was worse than the time he'd been captured by the Wutaian army and been tortured. He said the pain had lasted for three days. And you're telling me that they did this to a child?"

"Yes. You can't be surprised. You did work for them, you know what lengths they go through to better their interests. Sephiroth had near constant Jenova treatments from before he was born till about the age of twelve."

"Yeah, and didn't Sephiroth turn out to be the poster boy for mental well being." Reno seemed to remember something else in that moment. "Hang on, didn't just about every First Class Solider eventually go nuts? At all the ones that got the really exhaustive treatments did. Do you think that's what happened to Rufus?"

Vincent gave Reno a penetrating stare. "Despite what you would like to believe, Rufus has not had the most fulfilling and happy life. If his childhood is anything to go off I imagine his life was a very lonely one. I doubt he grew up knowing any sort of love and true companionship and you should be able to understand as well as I do what kinds of things come back to haunt you after working for a company like Shinra. And yes, it is true, Soldiers with similar treatments to what Rufus has now had have become mentally unstable after learning certain truths about themselves in the past. When Sephiroth learnt the full truth about his conception, he razed an entire town and then years later tried to do the same thing to the whole planet. Rufus I'm sure has had a whole life of regret and he had nothing else to dwell on after Midgar was destroyed around him. You can't be surprised that it would make him a little crazy."

"You call this a little crazy? It's a hell of a way to vent, endangering the planet like this. Just because daddy didn't give you enough hugs."

"You're simplifying things, Reno. You cannot understand what he's experienced just as I cannot understand what you might have experienced. But you said so yourself, having Soldier treatments exacerbates things. It seems to stop a person from being able to rationalise properly and turns them in on themselves. He isn't thinking rationally because he can't anymore. I believe that's what happened to Sephiroth at least."

Reno didn't look in the least bit sympathetic. "Are you honestly going to stand there and tell me that Rufus is a victim in all of this? Are you going to tell Marty and Rulf that Rufus can't be blamed for what happened to their town and all their friends that are now dead? Do you really believe that Rufus can now become a productive member of society again after everything? Okay fine, maybe Rufus is a victim, maybe he wouldn't have turned out the way he has if he'd had the better fortune of being born to different parents and not used physically and mentally for the betterment of Shinra. But he was, and he is a monster now. You can't expect them to forgive and forget. You are right, I have done some downright shitty things in my life and as much as I pretend it doesn't bother me, some of those things still wake me up in the middle of the night. But I never expected any of the people I've screwed over to forgive me because I know I don't deserve it. But at least I know that, I have a conscience – it may be hidden well down and trampled on a little – but it's there. Rufus may even have had one once upon a time, but he obviously doesn't now and that's what makes all the difference. You could tell him that you love him and that he's your friend and that he never will be alone again and he may even be grateful to you for that, but it won't stop him from doing what he plans to do. And you can't expect Marty, Rulf and everyone who's suffered because of him to forgive him. Just like me, he doesn't deserve it. But unlike me he doesn't have that conscience that will stop him from doing the same things all over again."

Vincent knew already what he was telling him was the truth. He'd obviously gone over it in his own mind more than a few times and still held out that hope that Rufus could be saved. But deep down, he knew Reno was right. He just was having trouble admitting it to himself.

"Why did you try and find someone to hand Rufus off onto in Junon if you want to protect him so much? It doesn't make any sense." Reno asked.

"When he was a child, he used to come and see me and we'd go down to the cafeteria and get something to eat together. I felt very sorry for him, he didn't seem to have anyone to talk to or fuss over him. And in a way I enjoyed his visits because it gave me a chance to get away from my work for a little while. I think he got pretty attached. At the time though Lucrecia was pregnant with Sephiroth and my life was pretty complicated. The day Lucrecia went into labor I left him, telling him I would come back and I never did. I confronted Hojo soon after and he shot me, experimented on me and put me into a kind of stasis where I remained for thirty years till the stasis wore off and Avalanche freed me and convinced me to join them. I never fulfilled my promise, I left him there to suffer alone in Midgar for all those years. His only friend had betrayed him and left him. Unfortunately I suspect that became a trend for him over the years."

"You felt guilty. Fine, I can understand that. I can understand how you might even think that palming him off onto someone else might seem like a better way for him to recover than by staying with the first person who ever betrayed his trust. But it would have never worked. I can tell you now, Rufus didn't really have friends at Shinra. He never really got close to anyone. I suspect that not only were you his first friend but you were his only real friend in his entire life. If you couldn't stop him going bat shit crazy and trying to poison the planet, I doubt some random acquaintance of his from Shinra would have done any better. You can't blame yourself for this. Bad circumstance and bad parenting is probably where the real blame lies, but getting rid of those won't stop him being what he is now. You helped stop Sephiroth from killing the planet once and he was a product of shitty life, Jenova and mako because you knew he needed to be stopped. You can't make the exception for Rufus just because you feel uncontrollable guilt for accidently abandoning him all those years ago. You need to make a decision, just like you did with Sephiroth, you need to decide who really needs saving. The planet that's still alive or a victim that is beyond saving and even according to him, already dead. And you need to choose now."

* * *

So far everything looked good. The reactor seemed to be humming along nicely, it was accepting the hasty start-up procedure that Reeve was pretty much making up as he went along and looked about ready to start drilling. Once it started drilling it would take only about five minutes before new mako would be sucked up into the system and he could bring the reactor the rest of the way online.

Just ten more minutes would do it.

He heard a growl from outside the door. It sounded almost like an animal growling and it sent shivers down Reeve's spine when he heard it. That couldn't be the Garens could it? It sounded so inhuman. At first he heard scratching at the door and then something heavy impacted with it. It didn't take long before he heard breaking glass and the barricade across the window took a hit that rocked it just a little.

Reeve watched the barricade for a moment, frantically deciding whether it was even going to withstand even ten more minutes of this before ultimately realising that he was screwed either way. He'd picked up the gun when the Garens had arrived but now he put it back down on the console in order to free up both his hands. He needed to finish this because he wouldn't get a second chance.

As it turned out ten minutes was giving himself and the barricade a little too much credit. He heard splintering behind him and knew that they must almost be through. He didn't stop though, he refused to even look around. If he got scared now and froze up it would be over. He needed to finish, he needed to get the reactor started and give Marty the opportunity to add those chemicals. He needed to…hear gunfire?

Reeve didn't pause in his work but he did listen to the sounds around him as closely as he could. The Garens had stopped hitting the barricade and he could hear them growling and hissing really furiously. It sounded very hectic for a few moments and Reeve entertained the notion that maybe the others had returned to help him.

When all sounds stopped did allow himself to pause then and turn around. He couldn't see anything outside for a while and just when he'd really begun to think they might be saved, the pounding started up again in earnest and Reeve felt his heart drop into his shoes.

He knew he had to turn around, he had to finish it. But he also knew there was no time left he needed more time than he had. His plan had failed. He picked up the gun just as the last of the barricade fell inwards and a figure hopped inside, tensed and ready for battle.

For a moment Reeve couldn't move.

The familiar figure straightened up when she saw him and gave Reeve a big smile.

"Yo, Reeve. How's it goin'?" Yuffie greeted him enthusiastically.

Reeve's mouth dropped open and he let the gun fall from his hand. "Yuffie?"

Yuffie sauntered over to him just as another couple of people climbed in through the broken barricade. Reeve recognised them all. It was his friends. Well some of them. He unlocked the door so not everyone would have to climb in through the destroyed window. Reno was limping a little when he came in through the door but otherwise everyone looked perfectly healthy and in relatively good spirits.

"Wow, you're a lot cuter in person that I would've thought." Yuffie told him when she reached him.

"Holy hellfire Reeve, did you invite every monster in here or you just got real shitty luck, boy?" Cid asked.

"I would not be so down on him Cid. I think he has had a rough enough time, don't you?" Red scolded him.

"This what he gets fer messin' with Shinra stuff again," Barret added bluntly.

"How did-? "

"We saw your message," Tifa told him interrupting.

Reeve shook his head in disbelief. "I didn't know if you'd gotten that."

Tifa smiled. "Cait did scrawl the word 'Midgar, need help' in painted letters on the wall in the storage room in Cosmo before his power ran out totally. We thought Cait was powered down for good before that when you said goodbye to us all so it took us a while the see the message and get here. We also got word from Elena in Costa filling us in on the plan. Did you think we wouldn't come to help?"

"I didn't know if you would." Reeve admitted a little guiltily.

Cid gave him a 'don't be stupid look', "You're our friend aren't you? 'Course we were gonna come!"

"Hey, Reeve?" Yuffie asked now looking at the console Reeve had abandoned. "Is that red light supposed to be flashing?"

Reeve rushed over and had a look. The reactor was starting to drill, it was too late to turn back now. He started up the reactor.

"You guys might want to brace yourselves."

* * *

_Notes: I know the chapter was meant to finish of the fic but when the word count started to get up to the 10,000 mark you might see how I thought I'd better cut it off and at least offer _something_ to everyone that has been so patient while waiting for me to get this finished. So here is a smallish chapter 17 to keep you going before the big finale. The good news is that by the time this one gets posted chapter 18 should not be far behind it being more or less complete minus a few crucial moments I have yet to add and that chapter on it's own is becoming quite the long monster of a chapter. _

_ So we have some more heroes joining the fray now just to make things a little more interesting and it looks like things are winding to a close…again. No for real this time, really. _

_ See you next time!_


	18. Release

Do What You Will

Chapter 18

Release

Marty looked at the hand on his arm, up the arm and into the face of the grinning maniac holding onto him. It wasn't a pleasant view. He would have been happier finding a Garen holding onto him than Rufus at that moment. Well, maybe not, but it was a close thing. Rufus looked _very_ happy to see him. And Rufus looking gleeful about anything always made Marty very uncomfortable. Rufus usually only wore his happy face when he was about to kill something.

"What's up, Marty?"

"Oh, you know," Marty was careful not to move even an inch lest he give Rufus no reason to get suddenly violent. He was happy that his voice sounded as casual as it did because internally he was freaking out. "Not a lot."

Rufus smile twisted a little. "That's not what it looks like. What's that in your hand?"

Marty thought for a moment. "It's an explosive," Marty responded eventually. Lies on the spur of the moment were not his specialty.

"Uh huh," Rufus didn't sound convinced. "I thought you guys were here to help Reeve. Sure looked like you were trying to help him when you stopped me from killing him before. I gotta tell you Marty, I was a little hurt by that."

Marty couldn't swear to it, but there might have been a hint of truth behind that statement. But Rufus _must _have known they would follow him from Junon. He _must_ have known that they would come to help Reeve. It seemed possible though that despite knowing this, there was a tiny part of Rufus that had hoped his friends would not fight against him. Well if Rufus wanted to believe that, Marty would help him. If he started a fight now, Rufus would easily kill him and he'd have accomplished nothing.

"Well, sure we saved him. That was before we heard his plan. It's not safe, we all agreed but Reeve won't listen. I figured our only chance is to blow up the reactor core and stop Reeve from trying this again."

Rufus still looked far from believing him but he still asked, "Why not just kill him then?"

Marty didn't know how much truth to tell. A little truth might help his story. But then again, a little truth might hurt them later. He decided to risk it. There might not be a later, after all.

"I can't Rufus. He's my brother."

Rufus lost his smile and frowned at him. "You what?"

Marty gave him a sick smile. "It's true. I can't kill him, Rufus, and I won't let you either. No matter how crazy he is, I still care about him."

Rufus gave him a look to suggest 'as if you could stop me' and Marty hurried on before he lost him entirely.

"But this plan of his is very dangerous. I can stop him if you let me."

Rufus watched Marty for a few moments, a thoughtful look on his face. He didn't let go of Marty's arm, but he wasn't forcing it back either. That was a surprise. Even crazy Rufus wasn't a moron and there were so many big gaping holes in Marty's story that you could drive a truck through them without touching the sides. And yet Rufus was digesting the information as though he thought Marty was telling him the truth.

It all came back to that little hope Rufus must have that somebody was still on his side. Marty could almost see it in his wild glowing blue eyes that he was trying to believe Marty, hoping that he was telling him the truth so much so that Marty was actually starting to feel a little bad about lying to him. He only had to remind himself about Kalm and about all those people that were left dead, dying or just hoped they were. Rufus had done that.

Not personally, but he had led the Garens there and let them terrorize the populous and not even because he'd wanted to. Survivors had told Marty that Rufus hadn't joined in and that actually made Marty angrier than if Rufus had. Rufus hadn't been driven to do it because of some sick crazy need like the Garens - he had just gotten them in, watched them ravage and them called them off like dogs off a kill probably after he'd figured the Garens had had enough. Rufus had instigated the whole thing and hadn't cared one bit for the people he'd helped slaughter. For Marty, that was even worse.

"There are three of you at least," Rufus said slowly, as though still trying to work something out. "And one of him. You could have knocked him out, prevented it that way."

Marty forced a smile. "What makes you think we didn't? C'mon Rufus, you must know what Reeve is like. Even if we dragged him out of the city kicking and screaming, we couldn't make him a prisoner forever. He'd just come back here and try again. But if we blow the reactor cores, he won't have anything to complete his insane mission with."

So much bullshit was flying out of his mouth he was surprised Rufus couldn't smell it. But to his utter surprise, Rufus released his arm and took a step back. He was still eyeing Marty a little warily, but he didn't unsheathe his sword and he didn't look like he was about to stop Marty again.

"If you're lying to me, I will dismember you while you are still alive to watch."

Marty swallowed thickly and nodded. So long as he got the liquid into the reactor, that was the main thing. Whatever Rufus did to him later was of little consequence if Reeve's little scheme actually worked. And besides, he had one hell of a score to settle with Rufus. Marty was under no delusions that he could take Rufus in a fight, but he was sure as hell going to try.

He managed to look away from Rufus, back to the core. The pulsing hadn't sped up any, thank the gods, but the reactor hatch was still open and Marty felt a little tingly from being so near it. He moved his arm forward again, the little vial grasped firmly in his fingers.

The sword whooshed down where Marty's arm was only seconds before. He snapped his head back in Rufus's direction with wide eyes. Rufus was grinning at him. It wasn't a happy grin.

"Do you think I'm an idiot?"

Marty took a step away from Rufus, putting his back to the core. Behind him he could hear it winding up, the pulsing flashing in the corners of his eyes. It was starting to get brighter.

"I don't think you are an idiot," Marty replied carefully, "I think you're crazy, there's a difference."

"And being crazy makes me more susceptible to bullshit, does it?"

Marty had to think over his that last sentence for a little while just to make sure he'd heard properly. "Um, yes?"

Rufus's eyes narrowed and he stopped grinning. "That's not very nice."

Marty backed up one more step; he could feel the heat from the core through his clothes on his back.

"I don't actually care. There was a lot I could have forgiven you for because I understand you must have had a difficult life. Yeah I know, I shouldn't feel too sorry for the poor little rich kid, but I get it. I'm sure you had a very stressful, lonely and fucked up life, Rufus. Then after all that shit you got stuck in Midgar being slowly poisoned by everything around you including your own mind. So I yeah, I could understand if you were a little angry, a little weird, I could even understand the violence to a degree. But there is a big difference between killing a would-be Junon rapist and watching while an entire town is tortured by Garens. Gods, Rufus, you even helped them get in there!"

Rufus didn't look moved by Marty's statement. Actually he looked surprised. "You think I care what you think? A moment ago you were trying to win me over, the next you get angry and start ranting. You think _I'm _crazy?"

"Maybe I was just trying to get you onside so it would be easy to kill you later."

Rufus gave him a thoughtful look. "That, I might actually believe. You are really angry about that village, aren't you?"

"Of course I am! You destroyed my town, you let Garens rape and murder my neighbors. Did you think I wouldn't care?"

Rufus shrugged. "It never occurred to me."

"Somehow that doesn't shock me," Marty muttered.

"So, you want to kill me?" Rufus asked with interest.

"Yes, more than I've ever wanted to kill anyone in my life."

Rufus smiled slightly. It could have been Marty's imagination but the smile looked at least a little genuine. From the look on Rufus's face he might have just told him that he loved him more than he'd loved anyone in his life.

"Has my death been foremost in your mind the entire time you've been in Midgar?"

Marty wasn't sure how he expected this conversation would go, but this certainly wasn't it. "There were a few times when your murder was overtaken by a dire need to run from big mako monsters, but yes, I'm pretty livid at you. I thought we were friends. Sort of. I can't believe you betrayed my trust like you did no matter how daft you are."

"We aren't friends. You're just trying to turn me again."

"Rufus, I just told you I want to kill you, how in the hell would that endear you to me?"

Rufus shrugged as though wanting to kill him was of little importance when presented with the idea of friendship. "At least you're honest."

"Does this mean you're going to leave me alone and not try to kill _me?_"

"No. But it doesn't mean I won't think of you fondly afterwards."

"You don't believe me, do you?" Marty asked Rufus in sudden fear induced inspiration. "You don't think we were ever actually friends."

"No. It's a nice thought. But I don't have friends."

"Gee, I can't imagine why. Disbelieve me all you want Rufus, but I did start to think of us as friends. I'm not saying I wanted to take you out fishing or something. But if something had happened to you, I would have come after you, I would have tried to look out for you. Now, though, I wouldn't even take one breath to save your life. And _you_ did that. I don't know if you are too bonkers to care at all, but there you go."

"You're lying, you have to be."

"Whatever makes it easier, Rufus."

Rufus prepared to take another swing at Marty and Marty was pretty sure he was about to die.

It was a pity, he hadn't accomplished anything. He hadn't managed to put the fix-all liquid into the reactor core thus apparently saving the world and he hadn't managed to kill Rufus before Rufus killed him. It might have been a selfish moment for him but deep down Marty suspected that if he could only achieve one goal, he would have chosen to kill Rufus. Of course it was entirely possible that killing Rufus might have saved the world anyway, but honestly, that wasn't the reason.

Rufus's sword arced in for the killing blow but halted just before it came into contact with his neck. The strength required to stop the weapon so quickly made Rufus's face go a little red. He looked as surprised by this turn of events as Marty imagined he did. Rufus was watching Marty with wide eyes and he was shaking his head.

"No, you only said that to throw me off. We aren't friends."

"Not anymore."

A little voice inside Marty was yelling at him, _Don't piss off the angry, crazy man with the large sword at your throat. Swallow your pride and live to kill him another day._ But Marty had had enough of trying to placate him. Half of it was pride in standing up to Rufus finally, half of it was stupidity bought on by relief that he wasn't dead just yet.

"I don't care," Rufus told him angrily.

Rufus grit his teeth prepared to follow through but still didn't budge his arm. If it was possible to look both very surprised and very angry at the same time, that was Rufus's face. Marty unfroze and took the opportunity to pull his long knife out of the sheath on his back with every intention of driving it into Rufus's heart. But Rufus caught the movement and seeing imminent danger lost that surprised look. Marty realized he just lost his chance.

"Rufus!"

The sudden voice that Marty didn't recognize almost made him stop what he was doing. But it didn't, it just made him miss what he was aiming for. It stopped Rufus well enough though and made him turn away but not before Marty managed to slice Rufus across the ribs with his blade. Rufus made a noise that was half stunned, half pained as he staggered back.

A man Marty had never seen before stood at the other end of the catwalk, overlarge sword out and ready. The man had blond hair and bright blue eyes, and the reason Marty could even tell what color his eyes were at this distance was because they glowed with mako. Flanking the stranger were Vincent and Rulf, both armed with guns, both staring at Rufus with widely different expressions.

The heat at Marty's back was only getting hotter and the pulsing had started to flash a little more rapidly. He had not idea whether he was too late or not, but he had to try. Reeve never told Marty that it would ever be too late to add the compound, only that if he waited to long it might kill him. Well, dying Marty could live with.

Well no, he couldn't, that was stupid, but considering the situation it was acceptable if it meant success. Marty turned from Rufus and opened the door to the core wide, throwing the vial in glass and all before the next pulse washed over him and he staggered back from the heat and a physical impact he hadn't been expecting. He managed to push the door closed before he sagged to the ground unconscious.

From the other end of the catwalk, Vincent saw Marty go down. He also saw that Rufus had attempted to stop him at the last minute but hadn't been able to react in time. He could see Rufus's annoyance at allowing Marty to get to the core, but there was nothing Rufus could do about it now, and he had bigger worries anyway now that he was facing three armed opponents.

Rufus narrowed his eyes at the three new arrivals, obviously unhappy about this change in the situation. Rufus couldn't have known what Marty had been doing - Vincent only had a vague idea himself - but he must have known it was important to Reeve's plan. Even a deaf and blind person could feel the reactor starting to rev up. Realistically, if Rufus wanted to stop what was happening, he could not afford to be delayed here by anyone. He needed to get to the control room and kill Reeve or sabotage the reactor in some other way.

Unfortunately the reactor core was a perfect place to do this. On the other hand, Rufus had just seen Marty drop due to having the door open for only ten seconds, so he was probably not very eager to try anything himself at the moment. Vincent didn't think Rufus had any reservations about doing harm to himself, but if the same thing happened to him before he had a chance to do any real damage then his plan would fail and that just wasn't practical. Though considering Rufus's state of mind recently, Vincent couldn't be sure if Rufus was capable to reasoning logically anymore. They would find out soon, he supposed. Either Rufus would run, which would be the intelligent choice, or he would fight. Both Vincent and Rulf had guns and if it came down to sword fighting, Rufus could not win against Cloud.

Even now he could see them eyeing one another, sizing each other up. Well mainly Rufus was doing the eyeing. Cloud seemed faintly bored. The last tough battle Cloud had, he had triumphed over Sephiroth. Even Rufus, crazy and dosed up on mako, a better, stronger and faster fighter now more than he'd ever been in his life, would still get soundly beaten by a man who had bested Shinra's elite. Rufus _had _to know this, yet he still hadn't backed down.

"What's this, Vincent?" Rufus asked with a snarl, "Called in the reinforcements?"

"Not me," Vincent replied. "Rufus, think about this: why are you even fighting?"

"You don't know? If you don't understand by now, I'm not about to start explaining things to you. Come, you came for a fight, didn't you? Let me give you one."

"You're going to lose Rufus. You're going to die."

"I told you! You don't listen! I already died, a long time ago."

Vincent didn't know what to say to him and his other two companions seemed past talking anyway. The next aggressive move Rufus made would spur them both into action but Vincent was reluctant to let things happen that way.

Rufus had done a lot of horrible things in his life but Vincent could still remember that little boy he used to share his lunchtimes with. He couldn't help but wonder what might have happened to that little boy if things had worked out differently for him. If Rufus had the support he so sorely needed, might he have ended up this crazy demented sociopath that stood before them now? Or might he have become a grown up version of that sweet innocent little boy that the world had only just barely started to impact on?

Vincent wasn't so egotistical as to blame himself for what Rufus had become. At least it wasn't him alone that had contributed to it. Vincent's disappearance from the world might have started the first early seeds of Rufus's abandonment issues but in all reality it wasn't just one individual that was to blame for what Rufus had become any more than Rufus himself was to blame. Everyone in his life might have added to Rufus's various problems, but it was Rufus himself that chose to deal with those issues by becoming the person he was.

Okay, maybe nobody was really to blame for Rufus going crazy; that had been more to do with a combination of mental problems infused with large amounts of mako distilled with a small amount of loneliness. But the man Rufus had become previously was still there amid the crazy and when all was said and done, that man wasn't a particularly pleasant individual. Vincent felt bad to know that Rufus hadn't started out being that way. He felt very sorry for Rufus and he didn't want to see him die, it was as simple as that.

The problem now was that Rufus had decided to be very difficult. And if it came down to saving Rufus and allowing Reeve's plan to continue, Vincent couldn't pick Rufus and that was the only simple fact that remained anymore.

Rufus insisted that he was already dead. It was probably his way of saying that everything he was, everything he had ever hoped to be was over. Of course Vincent could very well be reading into it a little bit - Rufus was pretty bonkers these days- but he had a feeling that Rufus wasn't as crazy as all that. There was always a reason behind everything he did, just as Marty had said. The reason Rufus told himself and everyone else that he had died could very well be because he just wasn't facing up to what he had become, what his life had become. Believing you were dead, not believe the real you capable to such thoughts and deeds since then would probably be preferable to the alternative. But it was just Rufus deluding himself and he couldn't run from what he was any more than Vincent could continue to make excuses for him.

Before the trio had time to go after Rufus, several snarls around them warned them that they were about to become outnumbered. Quick footsteps alerted the group to the direction of this new attack and the trio turned to meet the aggressors head on. Up close the Garens were a pretty scary bunch. Their skin was almost entirely gray now, their eyes glowed a deep mako green and most of them looked to be losing their hair. Their lips were drawn back in feral snarls, their hands outstretched like claws ready to tear their prey's faces off.

Rulf stood his ground despite whatever earlier torments he and Reno had been through. Cloud, who hadn't seen anything like the Garens before, didn't step back either. The only thing that told Vincent that the sight might be a little scary to him at all was the soft sharp intake of breath.

Vincent and Rulf fired off a few shots at the Garens running toward them but once they got close enough, the pair stopped firing to let Cloud step forward and bring that huge sword of his across in a big arcing sweep. Some of the Garens managed to dodge it, but most didn't and were cut down in that instant.

While Cloud covered their rears and Rulf covered him with the gun, Vincent turned back just in time to dodge Rufus's sword and keep his head. Vincent's aim was off due to having to move so fast, but he shot back at Rufus, forcing the man to scramble away lest he be shot for sure Vincent regained his balance.

Rufus dived for cover behind the reactor core, throwing a dagger with all his newfound strength. The blade hit Vincent's leg on its way past. It wasn't serious but Vincent felt the urge to change into Chaos rise in him. He fought it down with tremendous effort. If he let Chaos loose it would.. what? Kill Rufus, probably. Unfortunately Vincent was still having problems with that idea.

Cloud was mowing the Garens down. Vincent and the group from Junon might have had difficulties fighting the Garens, but Cloud was powerful. He may as well have been batting away flies. If Vincent helped him and Rulf finish off the last few, they could flank Rufus and end this fight. Vincent aimed and was about to pull the trigger when movement by the reactor core caught his attention.

Rufus knew he had to finish this soon. The core gave him cover, they wouldn't dare fire at him while he hid behind it, but it wouldn't last forever. He needed to take the reactor out of commission and quick. Rufus carefully got to his feet and turned around to-

He felt like he'd been punched in the chest harder than he'd ever felt in his life. Marty was standing there, brown eyes glowing, sweat pouring off his brow and hand on the hilt of the short sword he'd driven into Rufus' chest. Blood dripped on the ground between them.

Marty looked at Rufus sadly.

"I'm sorry Rufus, I really am. If you hadn't done that to the village I would have tried to save you. But you betrayed me and the trust I placed in you as my friend. I know you know what that feels like. I wish things had been different."

Betrayed him? Rufus was the one that was always betrayed, right? He didn't, he wasn't…his friend…

Marty let go of the sword and Rufus felt his legs go out from beneath him. Then he was looking up into the high interior of the reactor, Marty's cheerless face got closer as he knelt down beside him. Marty's expression made him remember again. Rufus remembered everything…

* * *

_But I'm not afraid, I'll show them all!_

_/_

_I'll find someone better. Someone that won't scream at me all the time. Someone to talk to. Someone that will listen. I don't wanna be alone anymore!_

/

_I won't cry! Never! I won't show him how weak I am._

/

_He's nice. Maybe he'll be my friend!_

_ Something's wrong._

_ He's my friend, maybe I can help him._

_ He'll come back. He wouldn't leave Me here alone with the nasty people. He's my friend…my only friend. He_ has_ to come back!_

"_Well you sure took your fucking time."_

/

"_Nothing survives Midgar but the monsters."_

/

_Run! _

_Quickly!_

_Hide!_

/

_Because you hit her back. You knocked her out. You've never done that before._

/

_He'd wanted to get away, be by himself for a little while. Find someone, anyone who wouldn't be like all the others._

_And he'd found _him_._

_His friend. His _only_ friend in the world._

_And then his friend had left him._

"_I'll be back. I promise."_

"_You came back."_

/

"_You'll do what you will, Rufus, you always have." _

/

"_You aren't like them."_

/

_Just accept it and move on. _

_You've done it with so much, you can do it with this._

/

_But how easy had it been to blame others._

_And it had felt good._

/

"_Don't do it Seph. Don't let them make you."_

/

"_We can vouch for them."_

"_No wait Del, listen. I swear on my life, these men can be trusted."_

/

"_C'mon Rufus, you can't hide forever."_

"_Not scared are you?"_

"_As if you know me."_

"_Maybe I got sick of being stepped on, ya' know? Maybe I feel like I want to be the one stepping for a change._

/

_"You didn't even come back to check did you?"_

_"You just left the city without knowing for sure."_

_"Do you really find it so hard to believe that we weren't friends?...To be honest, I wouldn't have even kicked half a brick aside to save your worthless life."_

/

"_It's them, they're here."_

"_They can't kill me."_

"_You're not invincible…"_

"_Yes I am."_

/

"_What's it like?"_

"_You can feel the other Soldiers?"_

_Maybe he really was one of them…_

_So why didn't they idea of torturing people really do anything for him?_

/

"_Why aren't you allowed to see regular doctors?"_

/

_They weren't monsters they were just people._

"_One of us?"_

"_Purpose."_

/

"_Don't touch me."_

/

"_He was my spy first."_

"…_then betrayed me "_

"_But now it looks like he's planning on ruining everything again."_

/

_No stars, no real day. Rufus felt at home everywhere now._

_When he was younger he'd wanted someone to feel as he had. _

_Someone to empathize with. _

_Now everyone would. _

/

"_I've come to give you purpose."_

/

"_How can you be so blasé about all those deaths you'll cause?_

/

"_Sephiroth is dead."_

"_He found out the truth of what they'd done to him."_

/

_And Rufus would go along with it because that's also what always happened._

/

_They were always so beautiful._

_The fake friends…_

/

"_I've come to kill you,"_

"…_but we were friends."_

"…_you betrayed me in the end. They all do, these so called friends of mine."_

"_Vincent left me when he promised he'd come back." _

"_Sephiroth went insane and committed mass genocide on a town and then tried to do it on a larger scale with the world." _

"_And you, you side with Avalanche, just like Vincent ended up doing, and you betrayed me just because you felt like being a hero."_

"_And where were any of you when I was left in the rubble of my former glory, broken, bleeding, near death and alone?"_

/

_Nobody cared about him, nobody had even been curious enough to come look for his body. Not one of his 'friends' had bothered. In the end his entire life had meant nothing, to anyone. He had suffered and nobody had cared._

_He wanted everyone to suffer, just like he had. _

_He wanted them to feel absolutely and irrevocably…_

…_alone._

* * *

Just like he had been alone. Always…hadn't he?

In his hazy vision, he saw another face, deep ruby colored eyes that were once a warm soft brown. He looked sad too. Why didn't they look happy he was dying? Why did they look like they cared…?

* * *

_Rufus sat down heavily on the mat and glared up as his teacher, out of breath and definitely out of patience. Tseng seemed to sense this and crouched down in front of Rufus, ruffling his hair, just because he knew how much Rufus hated being treated like a kid._

_ "It's a tricky move, Rufus. It took me years to master it. Don't feel so down."_

_ "You're lying, Tseng." Rufus accused. _

_ "Alright, I am lying. But it is still a tricky move. You will get it, I promise you."_

_ Rufus brushed Tseng's hand away angrily. "You don't have to say these things to make me feel better, you know."_

_ "Well that time I wasn't lying," Tseng told him with a rare smile. "You are talented, focused and very able. I have faith in you and that is the truth."_

_ Rufus looked up at Tseng, fearing he might see some sign that he was lying again. That he was just trying to be nice to him because he was the spoilt little prince. He saw nothing to indicate that. He saw nothing but honesty in Tseng's face. It was such an alien expression for Rufus to see and it took him a few moments to recognize what it was._

_ "You really believe in me?"_

_ "Really. Now get up and let's try again. You can do this, you just have to believe in yourself a little more."_

* * *

_Rufus entered his office in a huff, slamming the door behind him. He leant on his desk for a few moments, breathing heavily, face red, eyes squeezed shut and trying like hell to control the rage building up inside him. It wasn't working, this time he just couldn't make it go away. He opened his eyes and saw his nameplate on his desk._

_Vice President Rufus Shinra._

_Rufus grabbed the nameplate, turned and hurled it across the room narrowly missing the door that just opened and hitting the wall hard. Rufus could see the deep imprint in the wall that it had left and so could Reno who had only just avoided being blinded by it._

_ Very calmly, Reno stepped fully into the room and closed the door behind him. He leaned against the door and gave Rufus a 'was that necessary' sort of look._

_ "Don't give me that. You were in the meeting, you heard the old man going on about his stupid plans for the good of Shinra. No person in their right mind would agree with that man about how to run an ice-cream van let alone run the power distributions for the new reactor."_

_ Reno shrugged. "What do I know about reactors? For all I knew he could have been talking about using the power to run a 24hr disco in his office and I would be none the wiser and could care even less. What I did hear and did pick up on was him shooting down your idea repeatedly and you going that little bit more purple every time. This is starting to become a habit in the meetings. I'm waiting for that day, sometime soon, when your head will finally explode. Do me a favor, if you get an inkling of when that might be could you give me a heads up, I'd like to be prepared. Like with popcorn and beer."_

_ "You think I'm only upset because he shot down my ideas? I'm upset because he won't listen to the reason behind anyone's ideas, he's so set in his ways, he thinks he knows everything!"_

_ "Sounds familiar," Reno muttered._

_ "What did you say?"_

_ "Look, why do you really care? I mean really. You think Shinra is really gonna become bankrupt because of it? Do you think one little thing about the running of the company will suddenly change if the President goes ahead with what he thinks is best? Of course it won't and you know that. You're only pissed because daddy dearest doesn't listen to you, doesn't care what you say and doesn't think your ideas are any good. Look, I'm not saying I agree- what the fuck do I know, I'm just saying that I think you need to get a handle on your issues and start doing jobs where you know you might make a real difference. You don't need his approval to live, Rufus, you just need your own. You need to be satisfied in what you are doing and please stop giving a fuck about what your old man might think. It's what you do that matters, not what others think of you that is really important."_

_ Rufus stared at Reno like the man had sprouted another head. Reno was never one to give him pep speeches and Rufus could see why: he wasn't very good at them. Rufus didn't know whether to be pissed off or happy that Reno, in his own little way, was perhaps trying to cheer him up. He went for pissed._

"_You think I crave that man's approval that badly?"_

_ Reno snorted, "I think you crave everyone's approval. Which is stupid, because you want people to like you but don't do anything to get them to like you. You have to decide what you want to do. Do you want to be liked and admired, or do you want to spend the rest of your life waiting for people to like you all on their own because that's never going to happen. Be good to people or do nothing, let's see which one gets you the most friends."_

_ "You don't want to be my friend Reno, what do you care?"_

_ Reno sighed, "I don't want to be your friend because you do nothing. You say your father is so set in his ways, well, so are you. You expect everything to be given to you and I sort of admire your father in a way. He's the only one who never gives you exactly what you want. I get that it can be hard being the heir, but I don't get why you make it even harder on yourself. Don't expect things to happen for you Rufus, make it happen. Don't expect people to be nice to you because they have to, make it so that they are nice to you because they want to be. Now, that's more speechifying than I'm used to in one day. I didn't come in here to see if you are alright, I came in here because you still owe me a drink and I always get thirsty after those meetings. Get your shit together, we're going out."_

_ "Is your drink so important to you that you'd go out with a person you can't actually stand?" Rufus asked him curiously._

_ Reno gave him a funny look. "Of course it is. This is free booze we're talking about here," Reno lied._

* * *

_"Sorry I didn't make your party on the weekend," Reeve apologized from his perch inside one of the drilling tubes. The reactor was offline and the tube had been clogged up apparently causing some sort of mechanical malfunction that Reeve was trying to fix. He and his techs had been here for two days trying to fix it already._

_ "No you aren't." Rufus replied bluntly eyeing the grease and other assorted reactor grime that was abundant this far down in the reactor. He hated coming down here but he had to see how the repairs were going, needed to hear it from Reeve personally and there was no cell reception this far down._

_ Reeve just gave him a grin. "Okay, maybe not very sorry. You know it's not really my thing. I'm sure you had a hoard of friends there anyway. Did you at least get the present I left you?"_

_What did you get for the man that had everything? Apparently you got him a miniature sand garden._

_ "Yeah. You got me a box of sand and rocks. It was the most interesting present of the lot, that's for sure."_

_ "It's supposed to be a Sand Garden. You arrange it and rake it out. I got it from Wutai, it's supposed to be calming."_

_ Rufus snorted. "You think I need to be calmed?"_

_ Reeve looked at him for a moment before answering very carefully. "You have seemed a little stressed."_

_ Rufus gave Reeve a sharp look before making himself calm down. Reeve wasn't having a go at him, he was just trying to be nice._

_ "You put a lot of thought into that then," Rufus said. "I'm impressed."_

_ "I thought at the very least you'd find it clever. So how was your party anyway? I assume there was much fun to be had by all."_

_ "Of course," Rufus lied. _

_ Reeve seemed to sense something was wrong though and seemed about to say something. But Rufus tightened up his expression and Reeve let the moment go. _

_ "So, how much longer on this?"_

* * *

"_Did you know what happens to our bodies when we die?"_

_ Rufus came up to stand on the balcony by his friend. Sephiroth was looking out over the nighttime city. It looked like all the lights fuelled by the mako being churned out by the reactors in the distance were burning in Sephiroth's eyes. It was the first time the pair had seen each other in a while. Rufus had only just come back from a trip to Junon this morning and Sephiroth was about to be shipped out on assignment tomorrow. Apparently he was scheduled to go out to Nibleheim to check on possible heavy monster sightings in the area and a possible reactor leak. He had waited out on the balcony for Rufus to finish his work, even though he'd be waiting out here for hours. He never seemed to mind being still and never seemed to get bored with nothing to do. He had told Rufus in the past that there were too many things floating around in his brain for him to ever get truly bored anyway._

"_Yeah Seph, they burn your body and put your ashes in a mantelpiece feature. Or if you don't live in Midgar you get buried in a hole." Rufus told him cynically. _

_ Seph partially turned to him for a moment and smiled that calm patient smile of his. "Perhaps I phrased that wrong. Do you know what happens to our souls when we die."_

_ "Some people think I don't have one."_

_ That smile lost a little of its patience._

_ "Okay fine," Rufus relented. "I give, what happens?"_

_ "Our bodies return to the earth, revitalizing the earth and so do our souls. Every part of us returns to the lifestream, mixes in with the souls of each and every living being that has ever lived on this planet and gives life to the next generation of living things."_

_ Rufus raised an eyebrow at his friend. "Have you had a treatment today? You always seem a little loopy after one of your treatments down in the lab."_

_ "I have but that's not the point. I remember Professor Gast telling me about it when I was a small boy. He said that's what the Ancients used to believe. That when our souls leave this existence, they mingle with all the other departed souls of the planet, all the living souls and gives the planet life. I was wondering, do you think that means that once upon a time my soul or at least part of my soul lead a different existence? Was I a farmer, a wolf or even an ant by chance? Was I happy?"_

_ Rufus tried to give the question some serious thought but soon gave up. "Well either that or you might have been a tree."_

_ Sephiroth smiled again._

_ "Well, you did say __every__ living thing. Trees are living aren't they? But hey, do you think trees even have souls?"_

_ "You're making fun of me." Sephiroth pointed out lightly._

_ Rufus sighed. "I don't mean to. But you've got to admit, it sounds like a bit of fantasy, don't you think? It sounds like a nice last-ditch final fantasy to have when you're lying there, trying to draw in your last breath. But if you ask me, I don't think the planet relies on us as much as the Ancients might have believed it does. I think my existence here is going to have about as much impact on the planet as a raindrop into the ocean."_

_ "Oh, actually I think the Shinra are more like a tidal wave than a raindrop, but it's a wonderful analogy for me to steal from you. The way the lifestream was explained to me was just like that. Imagine yourself as that raindrop, being born in the clouds, having a brief existence falling through the sky as an individual droplet of water before plunging into the ocean and mingling with the rest of the water to become one huge elemental force of the world."_

_ "Losing your identity, losing everything that makes you an individual doesn't sound like much of an afterlife to me."_

_ "Really?" Sephiroth asked genuinely surprised by Rufus's answer. "I think it would be comforting, being lost in all that knowledge, all that understanding. Of course I might be alone in thinking that I wouldn't relish the thought of being the person I am now for the rest of eternity. Being lost in the lifestream, giving new life where it is required sounds pretty good to me. A new experience and a new chance at life. And before that, surrounded by so many souls, I would never feel alone." Here Sephiroth gave him a grin. "Even if I did become a tree in my next existence, I think it would be well worth it.."_

_ Rufus grinned as well and shook his head. "If I outlive you, I'll plant a tree and call it Seph."_

_ "That would be most appreciated."_

* * *

Maybe he hadn't been so alone. Or maybe he had been but only because he hadn't made the effort to be otherwise. People around Rufus had gotten close to or tried to, but because of his past, because of the hurt, he hadn't wanted to be close to anyone again. He could hardly blame his friends for his lack of effort even though that's exactly what he'd tried to do. He was too wrapped up in himself, he expected everyone around him to conform to his wants and needs just like his fake friends did. But the real people had been there in the beginning and it was true that they might not have cared about him much at all in the end, but in all reality, what reason had he given them to.

His life before Meteor seemed like such a strange dream of a person filled with emotion and needs trying like hell not to feel it or show it to those around him that he hadn't even felt it had been real in comparison to what he'd become. No wonder he'd felt dead now because something had to have changed drastically. He wasn't the same person anymore. He refused to be the same person anymore. He just wished that perhaps he could have tried to be a better person rather than a monster. He wished he'd had the choice. And even more, he wished that he could have felt bad about that.

Maybe third time would indeed be the charm. Maybe dying again would give him what he actually wanted this time. It could hardly get worse.

Rufus didn't know it but he was smiling. It would be as Seph had once told him. He would go to a new place now and place where he wouldn't ever feel alone again.

"Thank you..I think I understand…now…."

Then Rufus Shinra died. Again.

Marty watched the light fade from Rufus' eyes and let his head sag down onto his chest. He was drained after the energy he'd used against Rufus. Mental and physical energy. He had hoped that stabbing Rufus would have made him feel better even though he knew deep down that it ultimately wouldn't. He guessed he just wasn't that type of person to revel in the suffering of others no matter who they might be. He felt too bad for Rufus, the sick, sad and deranged man who could never seem to get his life right even when given two opportunities to do so. Marty didn't feel better by killing Rufus, but he did feel certain kind of relief. Rufus was irreversibly dangerous and beyond hope of helping at this point and that wasn't just something he'd told himself to make himself feel better; it was just the plain truth. That last look, those last words, even Rufus knew that that was true. Rufus had looked relieved too. And _that_ was what made Marty feel better about it all. Not that he was dead, but because Rufus had seemed happy about it.

He raised his head in time to see Vincent turn and walk away from them without saying a thing.

* * *

Up on the bridge of the airship, at the helm to keep the airship in place, Shera saw the exhaust of the reactor flare up suddenly. Instead of the mako green flare as normal it was purple, then blue. As she watched it lit up the air above the reactor and spread out, illuminating all the clouds as far as she could see. Particles of dust hit the glass view screen of the bridge, so much that it almost obscured the entire view. It went on for so long Shera began to worry about the people back in the reactor, about what was happening to the sky. Then the dust cleared and the sky looked lighter than before. The blue continued up out of the reactor and eventually she saw, behind the glow…the last few stars out in the glow of the coming dawn.

The sun was coming up.

* * *

Marty squinted up at the sun, marveling at how the glare hurt his eyes. His new bright glowing brown eyes that Reeve had told him were probably permanent. Considering that he was probably lucky to be alive at the moment, Marty didn't mind very much that his eyes glowed. It was better than the alternative.

They had gone up to the top of the reactor to where the guide rope to the airship was still tied but Marty had taken a moment along with the others to survey the ruins of Midgar for the first time under the direct light of the sun. Marty had not been in direct sunlight for a long time now and now he could fully appreciate just how pale he was. Rulf had laughed at him before realizing he was just as pasty.

True to the plan, the exhaust from the reactor had disbursed the residual mako in the air and the prevailing coastal winds had done the rest. The sky was blue, Marty hadn't seen that color in over a year and it was almost too much to look at.

"It's still darker here than it will be over the rest of the continent. Junon for instance won't have been cleared yet, it'll still be under the cloud for a good couple of weeks but when it clears it'll be brighter there. Unfortunately Midgar will never clear up completely, but the worst is gone." Reeve told them. "More importantly the poison will stop spreading and hopefully the land will recover."

Reeve the optimist. Well, Marty could handle a bit of optimism right now.

Reeve was staying with him and Rulf and would return with them to Kalm. Apparently he wasn't done with the hero trip yet and wanted to see if he could help here rather than return with his friends to the other continent.

Reno was leaving, he said he wanted to go to Costa and catch up with Elena. It wasn't that Marty didn't believe him, but he figured that Reno was pretty keen to get out of Midgar alive as soon as possible.

Vincent was leaving. He didn't say why and Marty didn't ask. He supposed that Vincent had had enough of Midgar and the aftermath of Shinra to last a lifetime. Two lifetimes, really. A small part of Marty thought that Vincent might not want to hang around with Rufus' killer either and Marty didn't really blame him.

After everyone had said their goodbyes and most of Avalanche were climbing up onto the airship Marty took the opportunity to ask Vincent.

"Do you blame me for what I did?" Marty asked Vincent quietly.

Vincent seemed to think the question over for a moment before replying. "No. I think you did him a favor. It was a wish of his I was not strong enough to grant for him. Your motives might not have been wholesome, but I think you understand now how you ended up helping him."

"I do," Marty responded truthfully. "I may not have forgiven him for what he did but I'm not glad I killed him, it doesn't make me happier. But I think it lifted a burden for him and that helps."

Vincent shook his hand and actually smiled. "You're a good man. I might wish things had turned out differently, but I know it happened how it was meant to. You did the right thing."

"Thank you. You don't know how much that helps."

They never actually said the word 'goodbye' but Reeve, Rulf and Marty stayed on the top of the reactor till the airship was lost in the brightness of the sky.

The silence was broken by Rulf yawning loudly and stretching.

"Well I think I'm gonna go back ta Kalm an' sit on my ass for a whole week an' get a tan."

"Finally," Marty told him, "one of your plans I actually like the sound of. Just remember," Marty told his friend with a smile, "the next time you suggest we come to Midgar for supplies, I _will_ hit you."

Reeve watched the pair with a bemused smile. "I'm missing something aren't I?"

"A lot." Marty assured him. "C'mon, we'll tell you the story on the way home."

THE END.

* * *

_Notes: Finally finally finally. This is still one of my favorites though so please if you liked it even a little let me know because it took three writers to get this idea up running and finished and we couldn't let it die because we loved it so much even if it did take such a long time to be completed. _

_For your patience this was an extra long chapter and I hope the flashbacks weren't so confusing to throw you all off. They were flashbacks from the actual flashbacks or the present story and with the exception of the last few big bits with the mushy bonding parts with Tseng, Reno, Reeve and Sephiroth. It was all in there as a sort of reminder of his general motivation and what he went through to get where he was now. It was a sort of sour happy ending but I hope it was worth the wait. _

_ Huge big thanks to Sa – who I vaguely remember probably had the original story idea for the fic, Race – who was the fabulous beta for the last ten or more chapters of the fic and whose input I could not have done without and last but most certainly not least, each and every reviewer on , I love you all._

_Thank you for reading,_

_AF & Ace._


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